GIF 


N   MEMORIAM 


U  M 


ADVENTURES  OF  A 
NICE  YOUNG  MAN 


ADVENTURES    OF   A 
NICE    YOUNG    MAN 


A     NO  V  E  L 


BY 


A  I  X 


IL   Y   A   QUARANTE   ANS  QUE  JE  N'ETOIS   PAS 

La  Bruyere 


NEW  YORK 

DUFFIELD   &   COMPANY 

1908 


Copyright,    1908,    by 
Duffield  &  Company 


All  rights  reserved 


THE  PREMIER  PRESS 
NEW  YORK 

GIFT 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAOB 

I.    OF  MY  BIRTHPLACE  AND  BOYHOOD.       .          .  3 

II.    OF  MY  VISIT  TO  THE  GOOD  RICH  MAN.           .  7 

III.  OF  MY  ADVENTURE  WITH  THE  BEAUTIFUL  LADY.  13 

IV.  OF  THE  YOUNG  NOVELIST  AND  BETTY'S  LETTER.  18 
V.    WHAT  I  SAW  AT  THE  PLAY.      ...  25 

VI.    FURTHER  CONCERNING  THE  BEAUTIFUL  ACTRESS.  32 
VII.    A  DESCRIPTION  OF  LILLIAN.        .           .           .38 

VIII.    IN  WHICH  I  AM  OBLIGED  TO  SEEK  WORK.        .  40 
IX.    OF  THE  SUDDEN  ENDING  OF  MY  LABOR.           .  46 
X.    WHY  I  WAS  UNHAPPY  IN  A  GOOD  EMPLOY 
MENT.               .....  48 

XI.    OF  LILLIAN,  MY  UNCLE,  AND  OTHER  THINGS.  52 

XII.    How   I  LOST   MY  GOOD   EMPLOYMENT.           .  55 

XIII.  I  BECOME  A  LADY'S  PRIVATE  SECRETARY.       .  60 

XIV.  IN  WHICH  I  BEHAVE  MYSELF  VERY  BADLY.      .  64 
XV.    IN    WHICH    BETTY    AND    I    BECOME    CLOSER 

ACQUAINTANCES.         .  .  .  .70 

XVI.    OF  BETTY'S  ARGUMENT  WITH  HER  MOTHER.      .  74 
XVII.    IN   WHICH    TRIXY   GORDON   APPEARS   IN    MY 

AFFAIRS.           .....  79 

XVIII.    OF  AN  UNPLEASANT  MEETING  WITH  MY  UNCLE 

AND  OF  TRIXY  GORDON.        .  .  .83 

XIX.    OF  A  VERY  NAUGHTY  EVENING.           .           ,  86 
XX.    THE  BAD  BEHAVIOR  OF  TRIXY'S  HUSBAND.       .  93 
XXI.    IN  WHICH  LILLIAN  AND  I  RESUME  FRIEND 
SHIP.     ......  97 

XXII.    OF  LILLIAN'S   FATHER 100 

XXIII.  IN  THE  COUNTRY  WITH   BETTY.          .          .  103 

XXIV.  OF   SENATOR  BAXOM 109 

XXV.  OF  THE  LADIES  AT  THE  COUNTRY  HOUSE.          .  114 

XXVI.  OF  A  STILL  MORE  NAUGHTY  EVENING  WITH 

TRIXY.  .  .  .  .  .119 

XXVII,    IN  WHICH  I  MEET  AN  ENTERPRISING  REPORTER,  125 


53141134 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXVIII.  OF  THE  DISASTROUS  CONSEQUENCES  OF  VAN 
ITY.        .           .           .           .           .           .130 

XXIX.  IN  WHICH  I  QUIT  NEW  YORK.           .           .      134 

XXX.  OF  MY  RETURN  TO  NEW  YORK.           .           .      141 

XXXI.  IN  WHICH  TRIXY  FINDS  ME  AT  THE  WRONG 

MOMENT.          .....      144 

XXXII.  IN  WHICH  I  BECOME  A  REPORTER.       .           .      149 

XXXIII.  OF  MY  FRIENDSHIP  WITH  OLCOTT.        .  .      152 

XXXIV.  A  VERY  SHORT  INTERVIEW  WITH  LILLIAN.       .      157 
XXXV.  OF  OLCOTT  AND  His   SCHEMES.           .           .      159 

XXXVI.  OF  OLCOTT'S   LOVE   AFFAIR.        .           .           .165 

XXXVII.  IN  WHICH  I  MEET  MAUD  START.           .           .      172 

XXXVIII.  OF  THE  ADVENTURE  AT  COLUMBUS.        .           .      176 

XXXIX.  FURTHER  OF  THE  AFFAIR  AT  COLUMBUS.           .      182 

XL.  THE  AFFAIR  AT  COLUMBUS  CONTINUED.           .      188 

XLI.  OF  THE  SUCCESS  OF  THE  AFFAIR  AT  COLUMBUS.      197 

XLII.  OF  THE  DISAGREEABLE  BEHAVIOR  OF  THE  MAN 

CONNERS 202 

XLIII.  IN  WHICH  I  VISIT  MY  OLD  HOME.       .          .      206 
XLIV.  OF    MY   UNCLE'S    DEATH.           .           .           .211 
XLV.  IN    WHICH    I    POSSESS    MY   MILLIONS.           .      217 
XLVI.  OF   MY   DEPARTURE   TO   EUROPE,           .           .      220 
XLVII.  IN  WHICH  I  AM  AT  SEA.           .           .           .226 
XLVIII.  OF  THE  ACQUAINTANCE  MADE  AT  SEA.           .      230 
XLIX.  OF  MY  STAY  IN  LONDON.           .          .          .241 
L.  IN  WHICH  I  GO  TO  PARIS.           .           .          .      244 
LI.  OF  THE  UNEXPECTED  MEETING  AT  THE  CHA 
TEAU 251 

LII.  OF    ANOTHER    UNEXPECTED    MEETING.           .      259 

LIH.  OF  A  VERY  NAUGHTY  DINNER  IN  PARIS.       .      262 

LIV.  THE  BAD  ENDING  OF  THE  DINNER.        .           .      267 

LV.  OF  COLONEL  EVANSON  AND  LILLIAN  IN  PARIS.      271 

LVI.  IN  WHICH  I  HASTEN  TO  MENTONE.       .           .      277 

LVII.  OF    BETTY   AT    MENTONE.           .           .           .283 

LVIII.  IN  WHICH  I  RECEIVE  VERY  BAD  NEWS.           .      288 

LIX.  I  AM  FORCED  TO  RETURN  TO  AMERICA.           .      293 

LX.  OF  MY  VOYAGE  HOMEWARD.        .           .           .298 

LXI.  IN  WHICH  I  FIND  LILLIAN  ABOARD.        .           .      303 

LXII.  OF  THE  WILL  THAT  RUINED  ME.          .          .      307 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

LXIII.    OF  AN   EXTRAORDINARY   CONVERSATION  WITH 

LILLIAN.  .  .  .  .  .315 

LXIV.    I    CONTEST    THE    WILL.  .  .  .320 

LXV.    I  AM  EMPLOYED  BY  THE  YOUNG  PRESIDENT  OF 

A    RAILWAY.    .  .          .  .  .324 

LXVI.    I   MAKE   MYSELF   SERVICEABLE  TO  THE   COR 
PORATION.         .....      328 

LXVII.    WHY  I  LOST   MY  PLACE.  .  .  .333 

LXVIII.    WHICH   is    VERY    SHORT.  .  .  .337 

LXIX.    IN  WHICH  THE  SENATOR  GIVES  ME  EMPLOY 
MENT.  .  .  .  .  .339 

LXX.    COLONEL  EVANSON'S  VIEWS  ON  THE  NEGROES 

AND  THE  SOUTH.        ....      344 

LXXI.    OF  BETTY'S  RETURN  FROM  FRANCE.       .  .      354 

LXXII.    OF  SOME  DISAGREEABLE  THINGS.  .  .      358 

LXXIII.    I  GO  TO  DENVER 363 

LXXIV.    I  RETURN  TO  WASHINGTON.        .  .  .366 

LXXV.    OF  THE  DELAYS  IN  MY  LAW  SUIT.        .  .      370 

LXXVI.    OF  MY  HOPES   CONCERNING  THE  PHILIPPINE 

ISLANDS.  .  .  .  .  .373 

LXXVIL    MY  SUDDEN  RETURN  TO  WEALTH.         .  .      378 

LXX VI II.    I  AM  DEFEATED  IN  THE  COURTS.  .  .      385 

LXXIX.    OF  STILL  ANOTHER  Loss.  .  .  .388 

LXXX.    IN  WHICH  I  EXPERIENCE  THE  COURTS  OF  COLO 
RADO.  .  .  .  .  .392 

LXXXI.    IN  WHICH   OCCURS  A  VERY  PAINFUL  SCENE.      397 
LXXXII.    WHICH  TERMINATES  THIS  HISTORY.  403 


ADVENTURES  OF  A 
NICE  YOUNG  MAN 


ADVENTURES    OF    A 
NICE   YOUNG    MAN 

CHAPTER  I 
BIRTHPLACE   AND    BOYHOOD 

T  WAS  born  in  a  village,  which  I  shall  not  name,  but 
'  which  is  not  very  far  from  the  banks  of  the  Hud 
son.  My  family  was  an  old  one  on  both  sides  and  I 
inherited  the  inclinations,  though  not  the  estates,  of  a 
gentleman.  My  mother's  people  had  a  great  deal  of 
pride  with  no  money  to  maintain  it,  while  my  father's 
had  a  great  deal  of  money  without  the  sense  to  keep  it, 
a  situation  which  enabled  each  to  claim  some  advan 
tage  over  the  other,  besides  furnishing  to  their  taunts 
in  frequent  quarrels  the  sting  of  truth.  My  mother 
was  able  to  boast  that  she  came  of  a  military  line  that 
had  a  right  to  look  down  upon  people  wlio  had  never 
been  in  the  business  of  killing,  nor  had  any  of  her  fam 
ily,  until  probably  in  the  present  instance,  ever  married 
beneath  them ;  a  practice  quite  true,  to  my  own  knowl 
edge,  for  when  one  of  her  uncles  fell  in  love  with  a 
poor  girl  he  was  of  too  honourable  a  family  to  marry 
her  and  consequently,  as  a  gentleman,  could  only  se 
duce  her. 

3 


4  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

However,  all  these  bickerings  came  to  an  end  at  last, 
for  one  night  the  good  woman  was  seized  with  a  pain 
ful  disorder  which  carried  her  off  in  a  day  or  two, 
leaving  us  no  other  consolation  than  that  the  best  phy 
sicians  within  a  hundred  miles  were  paid  to  see  her 
die,  and  that  she  was  interred  in  the  cemetery  in  which 
only  our  best  bred  people  were  buried.  Nor  was  her 
death  untimely,  for  by  that  time  my  father  having 
come,  as  the  saying  is,  to  the  end  of  his  string,  a  hard 
old  age  would  have  been  her  lot.  I  was  then  just 
past  twenty-one,  with  my  head  full  of  Seneca  and  Mo- 
liere  and  Horace  and  Milton,  besides  much  that  con 
stitutes  the  glory  of  Florence.  You  may  imagine  how 
far  all  these  sweet  bards  would  help  me  earn  a  living 
in  the  United  States,  where  every  boy  learns  the  pur 
suit  of  gain  and  the  principles  of  honourably  taking 
something  away  from  others  before  he  is  given  long 
trousers. 

With  this  disadvantage  of  literature  I  had  the  en 
dowment  of  a  comely  person  to  such  a  degree  that 
when  I  could  avoid  the  compliments  of  wives  I  had 
the  good  will  of  husbands,  for  men  admire  beauty  in 
their  own  sex  almost  as  they  do  in  women,  and  there 
is  no  gainsaying,  even  in  business,  the  fortune  of  a 
face.  However,  I  was  the  most  unpractical  young  fel 
low  in  the  world,  thrown  into  it,  as  I  now  was,  to 
scheme  for  dinner  while  eating  breakfast. 

Upon  my  mother's  death  my  father  informed  me 
there  remained  the  barest  competence  for  himself,  that 
my  further  education  was  out  of  the  question,  long 
maintained  already  at  a  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  my 
mother.  I  must  now  betake  myself  to  Albany,  where 
he  could  afford  me  no  better  beginning  than  a  letter  to 


BIRTHPLACE   AND    BOYHOOD       5 

his  only  brother,  from  whom  he  had  long  been  es 
tranged,  and  who,  in  fact,  detested  all  of  us.  With 
the  letter  in  my  pocket  I  remained  about  a  month  at 
home,  very  luckily  indeed,  for  the  poor  man  himself, 
falling  ill,  lingered  no  more  than  a  few  weeks,  when 
he,  too,  departed  this  life,  having  consumed  almost 
every  penny  he  had  accumulated. 

"Charles,  my  son,"  said  he  on  his  death-bed,  "don't 
make  money  your  god,  but  don't,  like  me,  despise  it 
altogether.  Try  to  please  your  uncle.  To  whom  but 
you  should  that  man,  without  wife  or  child,  leave  his 
large  estate?" 

I  left  home  with  only  fifty  dollars,  but  with  two 
comedies  nearly  finished,  a  tragedy  begun,  and  a  novel 
well  arranged  in  my  mind,  hastening  to  Albany,  where 
I  felt  sure  of  some  temporary  assistance  from  a  rela 
tive  so  rich  as  I  knew  my  uncle  to  be. 

I  now  entered  life  with  a  fine  opinion  of  myself, 
versed  enough  in  books  to  be  pedantic,  so  ignorant  of 
the  world  as  to  be  credulous,  vain  of  my  person  but 
inexperienced  with  women,  virtuous  because  little 
tempted,  and  honest  because  never  tried.  I  had  just 
begun  to  exercise  myself  in  worldly  pursuits,  having 
done  some  service  as  a  reporter  for  the  country  news 
paper,  having  made  a  few  speeches  at  town  meetings, 
and  having  attempted  some  part  in  local  politics.  I 
had  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  I  was  exceedingly 
bright. 

Before  quitting  this  part  of  my  life,  let  me  say  a 
few  words  concerning  the  scenes  of  my  youth.  In  the 
house  and  its  few  grassy  acres  my  father  had  only  a 
life  estate,  the  reversion  being  in  my  uncle,  who  so 
little  needed  it,  but  the  place  was  made  as  beautiful  as 


6  A   NICE   YOUNG  MAN 

if  it  were  never  to  pass  from  our  family.  The  hardy 
vines  of  the  North  climbed  over,  as  if  they  would  pro 
tect,  the  old  and  pretty  dwelling.  Beds  of  flowers  en 
livened  the  lawn  without  unduly  encroaching  on  the 
small  expanse  of  green,  and  it  seemed  as  if  every  bird 
in  the  neighbouring  fields  and  woods  loved  this  beyond 
any  other  spot.  Here,  in  the  sultry  days  of  summer, 
the  shade  was  refreshed  by  a  faithful  breeze,  which  I 
would  daily  enjoy  with  my  books  beneath  a  great  elm 
at  drowsy  noon.  How  shall  I  describe  those  happy 
days,  the  view  of  that  noble  river  which  no  commerce 
can  degrade,  the  mossy  bank  which  the  silent  water 
was  nibbling  away? — mordet  aqua  taciturnus  amnis. 

It  was  a  scene  of  study  and  day-dreams.  By  par 
ticular  fortune  I  had  about  me  all  those  years  not  only 
the  scholarship  of  my  father  and  the  use  of  his  re 
spectable  library,  but  the  erudition  of  a  simple  old 
pedant,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  whose  whole  soul  was 
in  the  study  of  the  classics.  These  he  explored  with 
industry  more  than  German,  accounting  no  triumph 
greater  than  inventing  a  plausible  hypothesis  concern 
ing  an  obscure  reading  or  pointing  out  what  Casaubon 
had  misunderstood.  Infinite  are  my  obligations  to  his 
knowledge.  When  at  length  it  was  plain  he  must  lose 
his  pupil,  the  good  old  man  was  sorely  grieved,  and 
when  I  took  leave  of  him  to  seek  my  fortune  in  the 
world  he  lovingly  embraced  me,  assuring  me  I  was  cer 
tain  to  do  well  in  New  York  with  so  much  Latin  and 
Greek. 

"In  all  my  experience,  Charles,"  said  he,  "I  never 
knew  a  mind  so  exquisitely  adapted  to  the  dative  case." 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    GOOD    RICH    MAN 

LJ  AVING  arrived  in  Albany,  I  lost  no  time  in  find- 
•*•  *  ing  my  uncle,  who  received  me  with  decent  cor 
diality.  He  even  invited  me  to  remain  a  week  or  two. 
Already  a  trifle  worldly,  I  sought  to  do  better  still,  nor 
is  it  improbable  I  might  have  succeeded  if  from  the 
beginning  I  had  not  had  the  ill  will  of  his  housekeeper, 
who  clearly  possessed  great  influence  over  him.  This 
hard-faced  jade,  Maria  Dole  by  name,  had  expecta 
tions  of  her  own,  for  she  was  younger  than  he  and  as 
cunning  as  the  devil  himself. 

"People  think  your  uncle  mighty  rich,  don't  they?" 
she  inquired. 

"I  don't  know/'  I  replied,  "except  that  my  father 
told  me  as  much." 

"Well,"  she  concluded,  drily,  "there's  a  lot  of  exag 
geration  and  miscalculation  about  other  people's  money, 
you  know,  I  suppose." 

To  be  brief,  this  lady  held,  as  the  saying  is,  a  full 
hand  against  me.  All  she  wanted  was  an  opportunity 
to  injure  me,  which,  as  ill  luck  would  have  it,  I  soon 
gave  her  by  listening  one  day  to  the  complaint  of  one 
of  the  maids.  This  lass  had  been  suffering  from  the 
improper  advances  of  my  uncle  (an  abominable  liber 
tine),  and  had  incurred  the  jealousy  of  Maria,  both  of 

7 


8  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

which  conditions  caused  her  to  make  ready  to  quit  the 
house.  The  detestable  Dole,  though,  would  not  pay 
her  for  the  broken  month,  so  the  poor  girl,  with  tears, 
whimpered  to  me  the  story  of  double  injustice. 

"It's  too  bad,  Kitty,"  said  I,  "and  here's  five  dollars 
from  me;  so  dry  up  your  tears." 

This  did  no  harm  until  Kitty  in  departing  exhibited 
her  gratitude  to  me  by  flinging  in  Maria's  face  what 
I  had  done,  letting  her  see,  besides,  that  she  had  be 
trayed  my  uncle's  behaviour,  too.  The  result  was  that 
the  latter  heard  of  what  was  called  my  interference, 
which,  agreeably  to  his  own  character,  was  laid  to  an 
other  motive  on  my  part. 

My  uncle's  favour  abated,  his  looks  grew  colder,  and 
my  welcome  expired.  Not  without  disappointment  did 
I  see  myself  forced  to  leave  him,  for  his  house 
abounded  in  luxury  and  was  maintained,  though  he 
had  no  relatives,  on  the  scale  on  which  he  had  kept  it 
before  the  death  of  his  wife  a  few  years  past.  In  age 
he  was  beyond  sixty,  besides  marked  with  dissipation. 

Inexperienced  though  I  was,  I  soon  perceived  that 
the  old  fellow  was  anxious  to  be  rid  of  me,  so  I  de 
termined  to  do  what  I  could  with  two  letters  of  intro 
duction  which  he  gave  me  to  acquaintances  in  New 
York :  one  a  retired  ironmonger  named  Sinclair,  well 
known  for  his  wealth  and  philanthropy;  the  other  a 
rich  man  of  leisure,  then  in  Europe.  When  I  expressed 
to  my  uncle  a  hope  that  Sinclair  could  in  some  way 
provide  employment  for  me,  the  old  sinner  said  there 
could  be  no  doubt  about  it.  Indeed,  Sinclair,  with  his 
reputation  for  that  sort  of  thing,  could  do  no  less  in 
my  instance,  and,  in  fact,  it  was  clearly  the  man's  duty 
to  take  care  of  me. 


THE    GOOD   RICH   MAN  9 

Sinclair,  who  had  been  out  of  town  when  I  arrived, 
returned  in  a  fortnight  from  the  annual  convention  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  which  his  many 
noted  charities  were  confined.  His  great  house  was  a 
rendezvous  for  eminent  churchmen,  his  fortune  sup 
plying  funds  for  handsome  chapels  at  home  as  well  as 
luxuries  for  missionaries  abroad. 

No  sooner  was  I  apprised  of  this  good  man's  return 
than  I  addressed  him  a  letter,  setting  forth  my  studies 
as  well  as  my  readiness  to  serve  him  in  any  way  that 
would  furnish  a  decent  livelihood,  besides  which  I  en 
closed  the  note  of  introduction  from  my  uncle.  Get 
ting  no  reply,  I  was  not  the  least  discouraged,  since  it 
was  plain  such  bounty  must  have  more  on  its  hands 
than  one  man  could  dispatch. 

I  accordingly  determined  one  evening  when  I  was 
sure  he  was  at  home  to  seek  him  personally,  and,  with 
out  the  slightest  doubt  of  my  getting  what  I  wanted, 
I  employed  the  time  as  I  walked  to  his  house,  like  an 
other  Scheherazade,  in  anticipating  the  fancy  he  would 
conceive  for  me,  the  great  use  I  should  be  to  him,  my 
speedy  appointment  as  private  secretary,  my  success 
in  winning  the  hand  of  his  daughter,  and  the  fortitude 
with  which  I  should  resist  the  advances  of  his  young 
second  wife.  I  should  be  very  stern  towards  this  crea 
ture.  His  daughter  I  would  accept,  but  the  step 
mother  would  have  to  repine  at  my  fidelity  to  her  hus 
band.  There  would  even  come  a  time  when  she  would 
insist  upon  my  embraces — but  now  I  had  arrived  be 
fore  the  great  man's  house. 

Ascending  a  handsome  flight  of  steps,  I  rang  the 
bell  and  was  met  by  a  servant,  who,  seeing  me  well 
dressed  and  able  to  present  a  card,  accepted  my  story 


io  A   NICE   YOUNG  MAN 

that  I  had  business  with  the  ironmonger  and  admitted 
me.  It  was  then  half-past  eight,  so  I  was  surprised  to 
find  I  should  have  to  await  the  conclusion  of  dinner, 
which  kept  me  an  hour  of  anxious  suspense,  with  no 
better  employment  than  to  see  on  the  ceilings  the 
sprawling  gods  of  foreign  art  and  to  recall  the  couplet 
of  Pope.  The  repast  finally  breaking  up,  I  could  hear 
the  guests,  bishops  all  of  them,  quitting  the  dining- 
room,  well  fed  and  happy. 

"Sir,"  exclaimed  one  of  them,  "we  expected  no  more 
than  your  hospitality  to-night.  This  munificent  dona 
tion  has  taken  our  breath  away." 

"Of  course,  no  mention  of  this  little  thing  in  the 
newspapers  to-morrow,"  responded  the  host. 

"There  you  are  too  modest,"  cried  another,  "even 
to  the  point  of  doing  injustice  to  the  cause.  It  does 
not  occur  to  your  generous  nature  that  the  notoriety 
of  one  hundred  thousand  thus  given  to  the  cause  of 
Christ  will  encourage  others." 

"I  fear  it  is  so,"  responded  the  good  merchant,  "and 
that  I  should  submit  to  this  thing  for  that  reason.  You 
will  see  that  it  is  reported  unostentatiously,  perhaps?" 

"It  shall  be  my  first  task,  dear  brother,"  responded 
the  one  addressed,  "even  before  I  have  thanked  the 
Lord  for  it  this  night.  Your  bounty  almost  over 
whelms  us." 

Cheered  by  this  happy  example  of  what  I  was  after 
myself,  I  rejoiced  at  hearing  them  at  length  disperse 
with  something  apparently  left  behind  for  me.  Being 
then  led  into  the  manufacturer's  presence,  and  feeling 
that  the  companion  of  learned  prelates  would  think  the 
better  of  me  for  a  classical  reference  or  two,  I  said, 
after  introducing  myself : 


THE    GOOD    RICH   MAN  11 

"Sir,  you  see  in  me  one  who  has  already  realised  the 
truth  of  Johnson's  line :  'Slow  rises  worth  by  poverty 
oppressed/  ' 

"I  don't  understand  you,"  he  replied,  suspiciously. 
"What  do  you  want-?" 

Still  not  discouraged,  I  went  on :  "I  have  come  here 
encouraged  by  the  fame  of  your  bounty  to  seek " 

"Upon  my  word!"  interrupted  the  good  man.  "Do 
the  people  of  this  town  think  me  made  of  money?  I 
am  worn  out  with  charity." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,"  I  rejoined,  "I  do  not  come 
here  as  an  object  of  charity." 

"Well,  one  would  think  so  from  your  waking  peo 
ple  at  this  time  of  night,"  he  retorted — a  response 
made  all  the  more  humiliating  by  his  daughter's  com 
ing  into  the  room  at  that  very  moment.  "However," 
he  quickly  resumed,  with  a  change  of  manner  on  see 
ing  the  girl,  "I  shall  see  you  again  perhaps  about  this, 
for  it  is  always  a  pleasure,  I  assure  you,  to  consider 
the  petitions  of  those  in  need.  Have  you  any  rela 
tives  ?" 

"That  is  a  matter  of  little  consequence  now,"  I  an 
swered  with  some  coolness,  "but  fortunately  I  have  a 
number  of  relatives." 

"Oh,  then,"  he  exclaimed,  "my  duty  is  plain.  I  must 
not  interfere.  This  is  their  duty,  and  they  will  not  be 
pleased  to  have  others  relieve  them  of  it.  You  have  a 
bright  eye,  my  boy,  and  are  going  to  do  well  in  this 
great  country  of  ours,  if  you  will  at  all  times  bear  in 
mind  a  Christian  spirit.  I  am  glad  you  came  to  see 
me.  I  am  also  glad  you  have  relatives.  You  look  like 


12  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

a  young  man  who  has  relatives,  thank  God!     Good 
evening,  my  boy,  good  evening." 

With  this  benediction  I  betook  myself  to  the  door, 
then  down  the  steps  to  the  street,  feeling  indeed  like  a 
young  man  who  had  relatives. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE    BEAUTIFUL    LADY 

T^HE  shame  of  this  reception  so  upset  my  mind  that 
*  during  half  an  hour  I  could  only  walk  the  streets, 
without  thought  of  returning  to  my  lodgings.  While  I 
was  thus  wandering,  an  accident  befell  me  too  impor 
tant  to  be  omitted  here,  for  it  deeply  affected  my  entire 
life. 

I  was  turning  into  Fifth  Avenue  from  one  of  the 
streets  that  cross  it  when,  of  a  sudden,  the  place  being 
poorly  lighted,  I  was  almost  under  the  wheels  of  a 
carriage  approaching  at  a  lively  speed.  With  no  small 
agility  I  contrived  in  part  to  escape,  but  not  wholly, 
for,  in  spite  of  my  efforts,  I  was  struck  by  one  of  the 
horses,  knocked  down,  and  stepped  upon.  In  an  in 
stant  the  team  was  halted  and  the  coachman,  holding 
the  excited  horses  as  best  he  could,  sprang  from  his 
seat  to  assist  me,  for  I  was  too  much  stunned  by  the 
blow  to  get  up  immediately.  While  he  was  setting  me 
on  my  legs,  the  coach  door  was  flung  open  and  two 
ladies  sprang  out  in  great  alarm,  begging  the  coach 
man  to  see  to  it  that  I  was  not  killed,  and  reminding 
him  that  they  had  often  warned  him  to  be  more  care 
ful.  By  this  time  I  was  up  again,  yet  so  befuddled  as 
not  to  know  which  way  to  turn,  whereupon  one  of  the 
ladies,  herself  taking  me  by  the  arm,  insisted  that  I 

13 


14  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

get  into  the  carriage  to  escape  the  crowd.  Being  still 
quite  dazed,  I  did  as  she  wished,  beginning  in  this  way 
an  acquaintance  that  was  to  cause  me  so  much  happi 
ness  and  so  much  pain  that  I  know  not  to-day  whether 
1  ought  to  rejoice  in  or  curse  the  accident  that  brought 
it  about. 

In  the  carriage  I  received  kind  expressions  from  the 
ladies,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  soil  their  gloves,  be 
sides,  in  brushing  the  mud  from  my  clothes,  a  kind 
ness  of  which  at  first  I  took  little  notice  in  vexatious 
reflections  that,  having  been  kicked  out  of  doors  by 
the  rich,  I  was  also  trodden  under  the  heels  of  their 
horses.  However,  the  swreetness  of  the  women  soon 
had  its  effect  in  restoring  my  spirits. 

"Ladies,"  I  said,  "I  beg  you  will  give  yourselves  no 
uneasiness.  I'm  none  the  worse  for  this  little  bump." 

"How  charming  and  brave  of  you  to  say  so,"  re 
sponded  the  elder,  "but  don't  flatter  yourself  that  we 
think  so,  too.  To  be  knocked  down  by  a  team  of  horses 
is  no  laughing  matter,  is  it,  Lisette?" 

"Ah,  my  God!  no.  Heavens!  no,  indeed,"  replied 
the  other,  apparently  a  maid.  "No,  Miss  Lillian." 

"We  men,"  I  continued,  gallantly,  "think  little  of 
these  things,  you  know." 

"And  we  women,"  replied  the  first  speaker,  "think 
a  great  deal.  If  that  fool  horse  had  lifted  his  foot  over 
you  again,  I  should  have  fainted." 

This  style  of  talk,  with  much  concern,  continuing  for 
some  moments,  I  at  length,  with  many  thanks,  desired 
my  fair  friends  to  trouble  themselves  no  more,  but  to 
let  me  out  at  the  next  corner.  This  request,  though, 
met  with  a  pretty  volley  of  reproaches.  I  should  not 
be  permitted  to  leave  them  until  they  had  taken  me 


THE   BEAUTIFUL   LADY  15 

to  their  apartments  and  put  my  dress  in  order,  after 
which  the  coachman  should  drive  me  home  as  a  punish 
ment  to  himself,  though  it  took  him  the  night  to  do 
so,  and  while  I  was  remonstrating  about  all  this  we 
arrived  before  their  door.  I  was  then  required  to  fol 
low  them,  for  they  would  hear  to  no  refusal,  into  a 
very  tall  building,  in  which,  after  flying  towards  heaven 
for  some  seconds,  we  were  finally  let  into  the  lady's 
rooms.  I  shall  be  old  indeed  when  I  forget  that  scene, 
for  until  that  moment  I  had  not  been  able  in  the  shad 
ows  to  see  her  features.  The  electric  light  set  every 
thing  in  a  blaze. 

With  trifling  curiosity  I  turned  to  see  who  she  was. 
She  looked  at  me,  and  I  was  pleased.  She  smiled,  and  I 
felt  a  strange  emotion.  She  spoke,  and  I  was  a  lover. 

For  a  moment  I  could  say  nothing,  so  lost  was  I  in 
an  admiration  which  I  did  not  attempt  to  conceal.  Not 
displeased  with  so  plain  an  effect  of  her  charms,  the 
lady  let  me  indulge  my  eyes  a  moment,  and  then  bade 
me  sit  down,  the  maid  meanwhile  removing  her  mis 
tress'  robe  and  outward  trifles  of  costume,  and  a  boy 
in  livery  appearing  with  liquors  and  small  refresh 
ments.  With  these  we  proceeded  to  regale  ourselves, 
conversing  meanwhile,  the  two  of  us,  in  a  lively  strain. 
It  was  so  soon  midnight  that  I  should  never  have 
thought  of  it  had  not  a  yawn  gotten  control  of  my  fair 
hostess'  face,  whereupon  I  hastily  arose  to  terminate 
an  interview  in  which,  though  I  did  not  perceive  it  until 
afterwards,  the  discreet  beauty  had  learned  everything 
about  me,  and  I  nothing  whatever  about  her.  Encour 
aged  by  the  great  interest  she  appeared  to  take  in  me, 
I  was  too  eager  to  tell  of  myself,  but  I  had  no  reason 
to  doubt  a  second  interview. 


16  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"I  beg  your  pardon  for  so  long  a  stay,  Miss  Evan- 
son,"  I  said,  "but  I  can  hope,  I  am  sure,  to  see  you 
soon  again." 

"That  we  can  decide  later,"  she  replied,  in  a  way 
that  gave  me  some  uneasiness. 

"Can't  I  see  you  to-morrow  ?"  I  cried. 

"Oh,  dear,  no!"  was  the  response,  with  a  laugh  and 
a  fillip  from  her  fan.  "You  men  are  always  so  im 
patient!  Let  me  see.  Thursday  will  do,  Thursday 
afternoon." 

This  being  four  days  hence,  I  protested,  but  quite  in 
vain,  for  she  grew  resolute  against  my  seeing  her 
sooner,  so  I  was  compelled  to  quit  the  place  without 
better  arrangement.  The  coachman  drove  to  my  lodg 
ings  in  a  quarter  which,  as  they  were  considerably 
above  my  purse,  it  was  no  indignity  for  him  to  drive 
in,  and,  notwithstanding  the  fellow  had  nearly  run  over 
me  an  hour  or  two  before,  I  was  fool  enough  in  my 
good  spirits  to  give  him  a  tip,  which  he  accepted  with 
poor  grace. 

Alone  in  my  room,  I  could  get  no  sleep  during  some 
hours,  for  it  was  now  that  I  began  to  ask  myself  who 
this  could  be  that,  unmarried,  could  apparently  main 
tain  her  own  establishment  and  play  the  hostess.  No 
uneasiness  entered  my  head  about  the  purity  of  one 
whom  love  had  already  made  an  angel,  but  I  was  con 
sumed  with  curiosity  about  so  peculiar  a  situation,  to 
relieve  which  no  hint  had  been  dropped  of  either  father 
or  mother.  I  did  not  stop  to  account  for  liquors,  sup 
per  and  innocence  at  so  late  an  hour,  or  for  the  source 
of  so  much  elegance,  which  I  finally  concluded,  as  I  fell 
asleep,  was  an  inheritance,  while  her  entertaining  me 
thus  was  either  an  unusual  thing,  consequent  upon  the 


THE   BEAUTIFUL   LADY  17 

accident,  or  a  privilege  of  virgins  in  so  modern  a  town. 
That  she  was  fully  as  old  as  myself  was  the  only  thing 
that  annoyed  me,  but  what  mattered  that  when  I 
thought  of  those  golden  curls,  those  pouting  lips,  those 
dimpled,  rosy  cheeks  and  those  eyes  of  heavenly  blue? 
Thus  for  a  long  time  I  mused  at  my  window,  in  love 
at  first  sight.  Let  them  deride  love  who  never  have 
felt  it.  But  the  poet  spoke  with  true  knowledge  of  the 
heart,  when  he  dwelt  on  the  undying  memory  of  love's 
young  dream. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  NOVELIST  AND  A  LETTER 


next  morning  I  awoke  early,  but  lay  an  hour 
or  two  musing  on  the  beauty  I  had  seen  last  night, 
as  if  she  were  one  of  my  dreams.  All  I  could  think 
of  now  was  an  excuse  to  be  again  at  her  side,  but  none 
readily  presented  itself,  for  I  could  not  forget  that  she 
appeared  firm  in  not  wishing  to  see  me  before  Thurs 
day  afternoon.  These  reflections  soon  accommodated 
themselves  to  a  purpose  of  strolling  near  her  apart 
ments,  in  the  hope  of  meeting  or  at  least  catching  a 
glimpse  of  her,  which  I  hastened  to  do  as  soon  as  I 
had  had  my  breakfast.  Nothing  came  of  this  sentry 
duty,  however,  though  prolonged  until  a  policeman  on 
the  same  round  grew  suspicious.  Then  I  bethought 
myself  of  flowers,  the  ambassadors  of  love,  but  when 
I  came  to  pay  for  them,  the  price  so  staggered  me  that 
I  could  do  no  more  than  send  a  scanty  handful  along 
with  a  card  which  bore  my  name. 

Evening  approaching  without  any  response,  I  was 
forced  to  take  my  dinner  at  my  boarding-house  in  un 
certainty,  yet  unwilling  to  set  foot  out  of  doors  lest  I 
be  away  when  a  reply  should  be  received.  Silently 
eating,  I  noticed  that  a  well-dressed  young  man  whom 
I  had  not  hitherto  seen  at  the  table,  appeared  not  un 

willing  to  make  an  acquaintance  with  me,  so  I  made 

18 


THE  NOVELIST  AND  A  LETTER     19 

some  commonplace  remark  on  the  dullness  of  the 
weather. 

"That  sort  of  thing  depends  entirely  on  one's  own 
mind,"  responded  he.  "For  my  own  part,  I  am  so 
absorbed  in  my  literary  work,  in  the  delightful  business 
of  creating  characters,  in  observation  of  men  and  man 
ners,  and  in  the  study  of  biography  for  the  historical 
part  of  my  fiction,  that  I  really  am  unaware  whether 
the  sky  is  wet  or  dry,  really  quite  unaware." 

All  this  he  exhaled  with  so  lackadaisical  an  air  that 
a  more  experienced  person  than  myself  would  have 
seen  immediately  that  I  had  to  do  with  a  fool. 

"You  are  fond  of  books,  then?"  I  cried. 

"Passionately,"  he  replied.  "They  are  my  gods.  I 
live  only  for  literature." 

"I  am  delighted  to  hear  that,"  said  I,  quite  pleased, 
"for  it  is  the  only  thing  I  ever  cared  for  myself." 

"Very  fortunate,"  he  answered.  "But  you  have  not, 
perhaps,  given  the  world  any  child  of  your  brain." 

"No,"  said  I,  "nothing.  Some  day  I  hope  to  do  so, 
but  I  cannot  yet  believe  that  I  should  put  in  print " 

"It  is  a  mere  matter  of  precocity,"  he  interrupted. 
"You  will  probably  do  well  to  wait.  I  cannot  expect 
every  one  to  have  such  good  fortune  as  myself,  who 
have  seen  one  of  my  novels  sold  to  the  number  of  two 
hundred  thousand,  the  last  being  sympathetically  illus 
trated  by  that  very  feeling  artist,  Ellison.  It  will  give 
you  pleasure  to  know  that  you  have  become  acquainted 
with  Willie  Willis,  the  author  of  'Roland  Maclaire.'  " 

Unacquainted  with  the  name  of  either  the  book  or 
its  author,  I  was  momentarily  under  embarrassment, 
which,  however,  he  fortunately  set  down  to  confusion 
on  my  part  in  thus  confronting  the  great,  until  I  was 


20  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

able  to  express  pleasure  at  the  introduction  and  to  give 
him  my  name  in  return. 

"Such  precocity  as  yours  and  so  enormous  a  sale 
has  a  precedent  only  in  Fanny  Burney  and  her  'Eve 
lina,'  "  I  remarked. 

"I  do  not  recall  the  book  you  mention,  nor  am  I  ac 
quainted  with  Miss  Burney.  Does  she  live  in  New 
York?"  he  inquired. 

"I  mean,  you  know,"  I  replied,  "Fanny  Burney  of 
Doctor  Johnson's  day." 

"Ah,  yes,"  he  responded.  "  'O,  rare  Ben  Jonson!' 
The  other  slips  my  mind.  Those  things  are  quite  out 
of  date  now.  The  modern  school  is  unsurpassed,  and 
with  the  labor  spent  on  my  own  manuscripts  I  have 
little  time  even  for  Scott  and  his  contemporaries,  like 
Fielding,  whose  'Tom  Jones,'  however,  I  understand, 
is  fairly  good. 

By  this  time  I  saw  that  this  pretty  genius  was  as 
much  astray  on  dates  as  on  taste,  but  I  had  the  sense 
to  say  nothing  as  yet  and  to  finish  the  meal  in  peace, 
whereupon  he  proposed  my  smoking  a  cigar  in  his 
room.  This  invitation  I  accepted  in  no  small  curiosity 
about  a  new  species  of  authors  with  which  the  banks 
and  the  warehouses  have  lately  been  supplying  the 
world  in  their  discharged  clerks.  He  discoursed  at 
first  on  recent  poets,  some  of  whom  he  called  "our 
sweetest  singers,"  then  for  some  time  on  fiction,  men 
tioning  a  number  of  whelps  like  himself  whose  por 
traits  were  in  the  advertisements  of  books  as  writers 
of  the  first  order,  but  he  soon  came  back  to  himself  and 
a  new  book,  his  masterpiece,  which  he  should  soon  put 
forth  as  a  great  study  in  morals;  nor  was  he  satisfied 
until,  producing  a  pile  of  sheets,  he  would  have  me 


THE  NOVELIST  AND  A  LETTER    21 

listen  to  a  few  passages  of  unusual  delicacy.  He  ear 
nestly  begged  my  friendly  suggestions. 

"Upon  these/'  he  said,  "I  shall  bestow  great  care. 
In  every  book  an  author  should  select  a  few  scenes  for 
careful  study  and  frequent  retouching,  don't  you  think 
so?" 

"Undoubtedly,"  I  replied,  "for,  as  Dryden  says: 

"  'Polish,  repplish,  every  colour  lay 

And  sometimes  add,  but  oftener  take  away.'  " 

"I  don't  remember  that  poet,"  he  replied,  "but  his 
idea  meets  my  approval,  if  one  desires  to  elegantly 
write  anything." 

"I  notice,  Mr.  Willis,"  said  I,  "that  you  separate  the 
infinitive  from  its  sign.  You  say  'to  elegantly  write.' 
Do  you  approve  that  new  form?" 

"I  don't  understand  you,"  he  answered.  "How  else 
would  you  have  one  say  it  ?" 

"  To  write  elegantly/  or  'elegantly  to  write/  is  the 
classical  form,"  I  replied. 

"Not  at  all,"  he  retorted,  with  some  irritation,  but 
with  serene  composure.  "I  am  particularly  fond  of 
the  classics,  as  you  can^see;  no  man  more  so;  but  I  am 
quite  sure  you  are  wrong." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  I.  "I  am  certain  the 
thing  was  never  heard  of  before  the  last  thirty  or  forty 
years." 

"And  how  much  further  back  would  any  one  want 
to  seek?"  he  replied  warmly.  "Besides,  you  may  go 
back  as  far  as  you  please  and  find  all  the  precedents 
you  want  for  the  form  just  as  I  have  used  it." 

"I  cannot  agree  with  you  at  all  in  that,"  I  rejoined. 

"That  is  your  misfortune,  Mr,  Cameron,"  he  re* 


22  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

sponded  coldly,  "and  surely  it  would  be  folly  to  set 
up  your  judgment  against  that  of  an  established  author 
like  myself,  whom  every  newspaper  in  America  has 
pronounced  a  classic  already,  a  circumstance  I  would 
not  ordinarily  mention." 

"Very  well,  sir,"  said  I,  rising  in  a  bad  temper.  "You 
can  imagine  my  opinion  of  a  writer  who  speaks  of 
Scott  and  Fielding  as  contemporaries." 

"I  will  overlook  all  this,  young  man,"  he  rejoined, 
though  hardly  a  year  older  than  myself,  with  the  cool 
and  patronising  air  of  one  above  me  in  years  as  well 
as  fame,  "if  you  will  only  withdraw  from  my  presence 
at  once.  Kindly  be  off  with  your  old  poets  and  what 
not,  while  men  like  myself  are  creating  a  new  litera 
ture." 

You  may  imagine  the  anger  and  contempt  with 
which  I  left  his  room  and  sought  my  own,  where  to 
my  delight  I  found  on  the  table  an  envelope  addressed 
in  a  lady's  hand.  With  what  impatience  did  I  tear  it 
open,  to  behold  the  signature,  not  of  my  Lillian,  but, 
strange  to  say,  of  the  daughter  of  old  Sinclair,  to  a 
few  lines  which  ran  as  follows : 


DEAR  MR.  CAMERON  :  Perhaps  you  are  not  aware,  but  I  heard 
the  short  talk  between  you  and  papa  last  night,  and  feeling  sure, 
from  your  face,  that  you  were  worthy  of  everything  you  asked, 
I  have  been  thinking  about  you  since,  because  it  is  my  duty,  hav 
ing  so  much,  to  think  about  those  who  have  only  a  little,  and  to 
try  to  help  them ;  and  besides,  I  wished  to  tell  you  not  to  believe 
my  father  an  ungenerous  man,  which  he  is  not,  but  really  a  very 
generous  one,  indeed.  So  I  got  your  address  from  your  card, 
and  I  enclose  twenty  dollars  to  assist  you,  to  be  paid  back  some 
time  in  life  when  you  have  made  your  success,  like  the  most  of 
our  American  boys,  and  like  papa  himself. 

Nobody  knows  this  but  you  and  me. 

BETTY  SINCLAIR. 

I  am  quite  sure  I  should  recognise  you  if  I  were  to  see  you 
again. 


THE  NOVELIST  AND  A  LETTER    23 

Had  I  at  that  time  suffered  more  from  the  world,  I 
should  have  been  affected  by  this  gentle  act  of  kind 
ness  from  one  to  whom  I  never  had  addressed  a  word, 
but,  though  not  unappreciative  of  the  act,  I  esteemed 
it  vastly  below  its  worth,  the  more  especially  as  I  was 
disappointed  in-  the  letter's  not  being  from  the  object 
of  my  adoration.  After  some  moments  I  replaced  the 
money  in  an  envelope,  with  the  following  letter  ad 
dressed  to  her  who  had  sent  it : 

MY  DEAR  Miss  SINCLAIR:  Permit  me  to  express  my  profound 
thanks  for  your  generous  enclosure,  which,  however,  I  hasten 
to  return.  You  have  been  kind  indeed.  The  memory  of  it  will, 
I  trust,  long  cheer  and  brighten  a  struggle  that  promises  to  be  a 
gloomy  one  against  adversity.  -However,  I  am  already  becoming 
accustomed  to  the  slights  of  fortune,  which  I  hope  I  have  the 
philosophy  to  despise.  Were  I  to  choose  a  motto,  it  would  be 
the  words  of  Lord  Bolingbroke  (in  his  exquisite  "Reflections 
upon  Exile")  :  "Uninterrupted  misery  has  this  good  effect:  as 
it  continually  torments,  it  finally  hardens." 

I  beg  you  will  trouble  yourself  no  further  with  the  fate  of 

CHARLES  CAMERON. 

Well  pleased  with  this  little  performance,  which  I 
read  over  several  times  in  a  gloom  that  grew  deeper 
every  time,  I  at  length  dropped  it  in  a  letter-box,  and 
after  a  while  went  sullenly  to  bed,  quite  forgetful  of 
gentle  Betty.  I  could  recall  only  a  glimpse  of  her.  She 
appeared  fair  enough,  but  I  was  wholly  absorbed  in 
the  golden  vision  of  the  petit  souper,  the  enchanting 
unknown. 

Such,  however,  is  the  force  of  wounded  vanity  that 
it  can  sometimes  drive  out  the  most  powerful  feelings 
of  the  heart,  and  I  even  awoke  to  express  contempt  for 
Willie  Willis  and  all  that  tribe  of  introspective  novel 
ists,  who,  since  the  days  of  George  Eliot,  have  aban 
doned  narrative  for  tedious  emotions  or  mental  analy 
sis.  They  dissect  a  doubt,  they  subdivide  a  sigh.  Nor 


24  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

is  it  to  be  forgotten  in  the  present  flood  of  fiction  that, 
for  the  first  time  in  its  history,  literature  is  consigned 
to  a  class  who  are  neither  students  of  letters  nor  ac 
quainted  with  its  traditions. 

Early  the  next  day,  nothing  being  in  my  head  but 
the  fair  goddess  of  the  night  before,  I  could  not  re 
frain,  though  forbidden  to  see  her,  from  stroking  by 
the  apartment  house  in  which  she  lived.  Judge  my  as 
tonishment  when  there  came  out  of  it  no  less  a  person 
than  my  uncle.  He  either  did  not  see  me  or  he  pre 
tended  not  to  see  me,  so  being  in  doubt  for  a  moment 
whether  to  hail  him,  I  let  him  go  on.  Nor  were  sur 
prises  at  an  end ;  for,  a  moment  later,  who  should  come 
from  another  direction  and  approach  the  entrance  of 
the  building  but  Maria  Dole,  walking  rapidly,  with  a 
very  determined  expression. 

"How  do  you  do,  Mrs.  Dole?"  I  cried. 

"Oh,"  she  replied,  "I— I'm  very  busy,  Mr. 
Cameron." 

"Perhaps  you're  looking  for  my  uncle?"  said  I. 

"I  don't  know  what  put  that  into  your  head,"  she 
answered,  much  annoyed. 

"I  don't  know  myself,"  I  responded,  "unless  it  was 
my  seeing  him  leave  here  a  minute  ago." 

I  saw  at  once  it  was  he  she  was  after,  since  she  in 
stinctively  turned  away  from  the  house,  then  hesitated 
as  if  to  conceal  her  real  intentions,  and  finally,  with 
some  good  wishes  for  my  future  in  New  York,  went 
down  the  street  in  a  hurry. 

As  you  may  imagine,  I  thought  all  this  a  trifle  odd. 


CHAPTER  V 
AT   THE   PLAY 

'"THE  next  day  I  was  fool  enough  again  to  loiter  in 
•*•  the  vicinity  of  Lillian's  apartments,  but  after  a 
time,  becoming  ashamed  of  so  much  devotion  when  it 
brought  me  no  reward,  I  resolved  to  have  a  grievance 
and  forget  her.  Meanwhile,  pressed  by  a  sense  of  my 
own  affairs,  which  were  those  of  a  man  with  only  a  few 
dollars  remaining  in  the  world,  I  had  time  to  reflect 
upon  my  means  of  continuing  to  live  in  quarters  so 
genteel,  or  even-  to  live  at  all.  Already  there  had  been 
returned  to  me  by  the  publishers  of  two  magazines  a 
farce  and  a  short  story,  while  one  of  the  reviews  had 
rejected  a  critique  of  Addison  with  such  haste  as  made 
me  feel  they  must  have  met  it  at  the  postoffice  to  dis 
patch  it  back.  These  were  performances  on  which  I 
had  greatly  relied,  so,  in  poor  spirits  at  dinner  that 
night,  I  was  much  pleased  to  have  my  landlady  invite 
me  to  her  table.  She  was  a  plump  old  Englishwoman 
who,  having  formerly  had  more  of  this  world's  goods, 
was  pleased  to  remember  more  than  she  had  ever  pos 
sessed,  together  with  social  acquaintances  and  influence 
among  prominent  families.  The  latter,  though  you 
never  saw  them  about  her,  were,  you  were  given  to 
understand,  on  terms  of  such  intimacy  with  her  as  fre 
quently  to  beg  her  not  to  spoil  one  of  their  most  select 

25 


26  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

companies  by  being  absent.  A  more  righteous  old  gos 
sip  I  never  heard,  though  kindly  enough  when  shown 
some  flattery. 

The  British  matron  is  more  tolerant  of  sin-  than  of 
scandal,  and  will  forgive  secret  adultery  sooner  than 
open  divorce.  Her  frailties  are  about  as  common  as 
those  of  women  of  other  races,  but  she  will  less  readily 
throw  away  her  reputation.  You  will  be  disappointed 
in  the  slowness  of  her  faculties,  yet  the  blooming  skin 
bespeaks  her  health,  her  step  the  freedom  of  her  race, 
her  voice  both  strength  and  softness.  When  you  see  the 
true  British  gentlewoman  you  may  easily  imagine  that 
she  has  suckled  the  conquerors  of  India  and  bred  those 
islanders  who  have  brought  back  the  treasures  of  Africa 
to  the  Thames. 

There  were  no  merits  in  her  race,  but  Mrs.  Dobson 
was  fully  aware  of  them,  so  I  soon  managed  to  direct 
the  conversation  iruthe  direction  of  compliments,  which 
were  swallowed  by  her  as  a  frog  gulps  flies. 

"You  are  going  to  do  well  in  New  York,  Mr.  Cam 
eron,"  said  my  hostess.  "In  fact,  I  may  say  as  how 
our  society  here  needs  young  men  like  you.  Confined 
to  the  house  as  I  am  by  this  gout,  I  am  unable  to  make 
you  a  few  acquaintances  I  have  in  mind,  but  as  soon 
.as  my  foot  is  better  I  shall  take  pleasure  in  doing  you 
a  turn  of  that  sort." 

With  that  she  began  to  descant  on  the  pains  in  her 
big  toe,  the  swelling  in  the  joints,  and  the  invasion  of 
her  calf  by  this  malady,  which  inevitably  recurred  about 
the  month  of  the  death  of  her  grandfather  in  the  old 
country  years  before,  an  aristocratic  old  drinker  who 
had  given  his  descendants  the  gout  in  most  expensive 


AT   THE   PLAY  27 

wines.  From  this  theme  she  wandered  to  religious 
topics,  including  the  declining  morals  of  our  women. 

"There's  a  day  of  reckoning  for  some  as  I  know," 
she  exclaimed,  "and  take  my  word  for  it  they  will  get 
their  reward  in  this  world  itself.  I  am  too  good  a 
Christian  not  to  know  that  God  gives  us  some  of  our 
punishments  without  postponing  them  until  the  next 
world." 

"Indeed,  it  must  be  so,  Mrs.  Dobson,"  I  replied. 

"So?  Of  course  it  is  so,"  quoth  the  dame.  "Let  the 
offence  be  ever  so  small  and  it  is  paid  while  we  live. 
There  is  my  cousin,  Lady  Cregsby,  in  Somersetshire, 
who  was  thrown  from  her  horse  within  a  year  after 
she  disappointed  her  mother  in  not  marrying  Captain 
Nettleton,  of  the  Horse  Guards.  No,  young  man,  we 
Christians  must  bear  with  patience  whatever  befalls 
us,  for  it's  God's  way  of  repaying  us  for  some  little 
thing  or  other  we  have  done  or  left  undone." 

"I  never  thought  of  it  before,  Mrs.  Dobson,"  I  re 
plied,  with  proper  hypocrisy,  "but  it  must  be  as  you 
say.  Take,  now,  your  present  gout.  God  is  probably, 
in  His  wisdom,  imposing  on  you  a  little  punishment  for 
something  overlooked." 

"I  don't  understand  you,"  cried  the  lady.  "You 
don't  intimate  that  Catherine  Dobson  ever  did  anything 
she  ought  to  have  been  ashamed  of?" 

"Oh,  the  very  contrary,  my  dear  Mrs.  Dobson,"  I 
replied,  pretty  red  in  the  face,  "the  very  contrary." 

"Well,  I  don't  know  what  else  you  can  mean,  which 
is  certainly  disappointing  in  a  young  person  of  your 
appearance.  I'll  have  you  understand,  young  man,  I 
never  did  a  thing  in  my  life  but  the  good  God  Himself 


28  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

would  have  approved.  You'll  excuse  me  now,  as  I 
have  to  be  looking  after  my  guests." 

With  this,  she  took  leave  of  a  considerably  embar 
rassed  young  diplomat. 

In  no  better  spirits  I  betook  myself  to  the  street  after 
eating  the  meal,  and,  wandering  in  the  gay  part  of 
Broadway,  was  attracted  into  one  of  the  theatres, 
where,  at  no  great  cost,  I  got  a  seat  in  the  balcony. 
There  being  yet  some  time  before  the  play,  I  was  not 
sorry  to  find  next  me  a  man,  somewhat  older  than  my 
self,  who  seemed  willing  to  talk.  Our  conversation 
naturally  began  with  the  drama,  which  he  remarked 
was  in  a  sorry  state  nowadays,  both  from  immorality 
and  want  of  taste.  As  this  was  a  pleasant  subject  to 
me,  I  had  a  good  deal  to  say,  particularly  of  the  classic. 
The  latter,  I  said,  was  never  more  immoral  than  in  the 
plays  of  Calderon,  who,  after  having  his  heroes  com 
mit  unspeakable  crimes,  would  glorify  them  by  signal 
acts  of  Christian  faith. 

"Exactly!"  exclaimed  my  new  acquaintance.  "It 
reminds  me  of  incidents  related  by  Wallace  in  his  work 
on  Russia.  A  criminal,  he  says,  having  murdered  a 
man  for  his  money,  refrained  from  eating  some  cooked 
meat  he  found  in  the  house,  because  it  was  a  fast  day. 
Another  story  is  of  a  fellow  who  plans  a  murder,  which 
he  subsequently  commits,  and  deliberately  commends 
his  designs  to  the  saints  by  religious  meditation  in  a 
church.  The  middle  ages  of  our  Christian  history  are 
full  of  such  things,  so  I  often  wonder  whether  the 
world  has  not  grown  better  in  spite  of  Christianity  than 
because  of  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  what  Christianity 
should  find  most  difficult  to  explain  is  that  during  the 
period  when  everybody  believed  in  it  profoundly,  vice 


AT   THE   PLAY  29 

was  worse  and  commonest,  while  to-day,  when  scep 
ticism  is  general,  the  morals  of  individuals  and  of  states 
are  infinitely  higher.  In  the  middle  ages  men  would  rob 
or  murder  you  for  a  trifle,  but  they  would  be  unable 
to  sleep  at  night  if  they  had  omitted  some  of  the  re 
quirements  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  They  absolutely 
believed  in  Christ,  for  they  were  willing  to  be  roasted 
in  His  name." 

"What  you  mean  is,"  I  remarked,  "that  as  that  was 
the  time  when  men  believed  most  in  God,  why  was  not 
the  Church  able  to  make  their  morals  better  than  now, 
when  half  of  them  don't  believe  at  all  ?" 

"That  is  it,"  said  he,  "and  it  seems  a  poor  answer 
to  say  that  it  was  all  due  to  the  middle  ages.  Why 
didn't  our  religion  improve  the  middle  ages  ?  During 
that  period  the  Moors  in  Southern  Spain  had  a  stable 
government,  arts,  science  and  justice,  while  our  people 
not  only  in  the  North,  but  in  Spain  and  Italy,  were 
ravishing  women  and  burning,  poisoning  or  gibbeting 
each  other  without  regard  to  law.  This  was  after  a 
thousand  years  of  Christianity." 

Not  a  little  interested  in  all  this,  as  it  disclosed,  no 
matter  whether  he  were  right  or  not,  a  man  of  reflec 
tion,  I  gradually  discovered  that  I  was  talking  to  one 
Colby,  an  assistant  editor  of  one  of  the  daily  news 
papers.  This  was  an  acquaintance  the  value  of  which 
to  an  impecunious  fellow  like  me  ought  to  have  been 
apparent,  but  which  I  did  not  immediately  see.  How 
ever,  he  appeared  to  notice  that  my  reading  was  beyond 
what  is  ordinary,  and  we  exchanged  cards. 

By  this  time  the  curtain  was  up  and  the  players,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  audience,  were  telling  each  other  in 
numerable  things,  which,  as  in  the  case  of  Puff,  there 


30  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

seemed  to  be  no  excuse  at  all  for  their  relating,  as,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  the  other  character  must  have  known 
all  about  them — that  one  was  the  other's  cousin,  living 
hard  by,  and  another  come  into  a  fortune  a  month 
before  in  the  house  of  the  very  man  to  whom  he  was 
telling  it.  Having  no  play-bill,  I  was  not  advised  of 
the  plot  or  the  actors.  Toward  the  close  of  the  first 
act,  my  eye  being  for  a  moment  off  the  stage,  I  heard 
a  sudden  burst  of  applause,  such  as  attends  the  entry 
of  a  favourite,  and,  turning  my  eyes  to  the  scene,  I  sat 
spell-bound.  I  gazed  and  gazed  again,  catching  the 
arm  of  my  companion,  but  unable  to  turn  away  my 
eyes.  Could  it  be  possible  ?  There,  in  all  the  unspeak 
able  charms  of  perfect  blonde  beauty,  smiling  at  the 
house  with  mingled  sweetness  and  pride,  and  aware 
that  every  glance  belonged  to  her — there,  I  say,  stood 
Lillian.  Not  for  some  time  was  I  aware  that  Colby 
was  regarding  me  with  amusement. 

"Have  you  never  seen  Lillian?"  he  inquired. 

I  knew  not  how  to  answer  him,  for  by  this  time  the 
dazzling  creature  began  to  speak  in  a  voice  which  made 
my  heart  throb  faster.  The  rest  passed  like  a  dream. 
I  scarcely  spoke  another  word  to  Colby,  for  even  when 
the  curtain  was  down  I  was  too  much  engrossed  to  say 
much,  a  disturbance  of  my  mind  which  I  think  puzzled 
him  a  good  deal.  At  first  I  could  not  believe  it  was 
she,  as  I  had  never  doubted  her  life  was  a  private  one, 
but  the  resemblance  was  not  to  be  mistaken.  Mean 
while  the  play  went  on,  a  comedy  of  little  merit,  in 
which,  very  happily,  no  lover  took  much  liberty  with 
Lillian,  the  principal  lady  of  the  company.  At  times 
I  fancied  she  caught  my  eye.  I  even  tried  to  catch  hers 
with  some  motion  of  my  hand  or  expression  of  my  face. 


AT   THE    PLAY  31 

About  the  fourth  act  Colby  left  me,  saying  he  must 
be  at  his  office,  and  I  had  barely  sense  to  say  a  cordial 
good-night.  At  last  the  play  was  over  with,  so  I  had 
to  take  my  leave,  repairing  reluctantly  to  my  room  for 
want  of  an  excuse  to  see  the  beautiful  woman  that  very 
night.  I  could  not  sleep.  Luckily,  though,  I  was  not 
yet  in  despair  at  the  immense  inequality  of  o>ur  condi 
tions,  for,  until  a  young  lover  is  brought  to  his  senses 
rudely  about  that,  he  sees  no  difficulty  in  it  at  all.  No, 
I  was  quite  satisfied  both  of  her  love  for  me  and  of  my 
ability  to  take  care  of  her.  The  marriage  would  be 
pre-eminently  a  happy  one.  It  had  its  precedents,  too, 
among  literary  men  like  myself.  Think  of  Moliere! 
Had  he  not  married  an  actress,  the  pretty  Bejart  ?  That 

marriage  had  been  a But  no  matter  for  that.  Ar- 

mande  Bejart  was  not  my  Lillian.  I  should  write  for 
her,  whose  acting  I  deemed  as  faultless  as  her  face.  It 
is  in  my  comedies  she  must  hereafter  appear.  Not  a 
thought  of  jealousy  came  into  my  mind,  as  every  pleas 
ant  glance  she  had  given  me  the  other  night  was  fon«ii/ 
translated  by  my  infatuated  heart.  Fortune  would 
pour  in  upon  us  along  with  fame,  but  our  happiest  mo 
ments  would  be  those  when  we  could  fly  from  the  crowd 
to  be  alone.  We  should  go,  we  should  go  to  some  soft 
Italian  scene,  and  there,  forgetting  the  harsh  North, 
wander  between  the  mountains  and  the  shore,  through 
groves  and  sunny  vales  renowned  in  song,  or  doze  and 
read  and  dream  on  the  sands  by  a  summer  sea.  Sweet 
are  the  visions  of  youth ! 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE    BEAUTIFUL   ACTRESS 

''THE  next  morning  my  thoughts  were  more  sober. 
The  little  money  I  had  brought  with  me  was  so 
nearly  spent  that  I  had  barely  sufficient  to  pay  my  land 
lady  through  a  maid  who  performed  for  her  that  com 
mercial  service.  So,  notwithstanding  I  felt  relieved 
in  being  able  at  least  to  do  that,  I  was  depressed  by 
the  future.  A  day  or  two  previously  I  had  written  to 
my  uncle  at  Albany,  disclosing  my  condition  as  well  as 
the  poor  reception  I  had  received  at  the  hands  of  old 
Sinclair.  The  answer,  which  I  now  opened,  was  as 
follows : 

MY  DEAR  NEPHEW  :  I  wish  to  say  that  I  really  think  it  wrong 
to  help  young  men  when  they  are  blessed,  as  you  are,  with  good 
health.  It  does  them  a  great  injustice. 

Sinclair's  coldness  fills  me  with  disgust.  I  am  afraid  he  is  a 
hypocrite.  He  could  easily  have  helped  you,  and  it  was  his  duty 
to  do  so,  considering  that  he  saw  you  had  your  way  to  make  in 
a  strange  city.  It  was  very  unfair  in  him  to  attempt  to  throw 
you  back  on  relatives  a  hundred  miles  away. 

At  a  later  period  I  could  not  think  of  this  letter  with 
out  smiling  at  its  selfishness,  but,  I  assure  you,  it  was 
nothing  to  smile  at  that  morning  in  December.  How 
ever,  youth  is  seldom  long  in  bad  spirits.  I  fell  again 
to  thinking  of  Lillian,  put  my  clothes  in  order,  and  re 
solved  to  be  happy  that  afternoon  in  her  company 
though  I  should  never  have  another  dollar  in  the  world. 

32 


THE   BEAUTIFUL   ACTRESS        33 

Imagine,  on  my  being  received  by  Lillian,  the  dis 
gust  I  felt  at  finding  we  should  not  be  alone.  There 
were  already  there  three  or  four  men  and  women  in 
conversation  with  the  beauty,  who,  though  she  greeted 
me  with  a  warm  and  meaning  glance,  indicated  with 
coquettish  management  of  her  lips  and  eyebrows  that 
we  must  put  up  with  company.  Exquisite  work  of  na 
ture,  she  had  only  to  look  into  my  eyes  to  set  my  heart 
throbbing  and  to  make  my  knees  tremble  beneath  me. 
However,  keeping  my  self-possession  through  a  con 
ceit  which  had  always  been  a  part  of  me,  I  appeared 
pretty  much  at  ease,  I  fancy,  and  entered  into  the  con 
versation.  Lillian,  for  her  part,  immediately  made 
known  the  chance  that  had  occasioned  our  acquaint 
ance.  She  recounted  the  affair  in  the  street  with  the 
exaggeration  natural  to  women,  whereupon  one  of  the 
ladies  declared  it  was  terrible,  another  that  she  had 
never  heard  anything  like  it  in  her  life,  and  a  third 
that  she  could  not  see  how  I  had  come  out  of  it  alive. 
This  led  to  abuse  of  the  policemen  for  their  not  being 
in  a  position  to  warn  persons  crossing  the  streets.  All 
were  unanimous  that  there  ought  to  be  laws  on  the 
subject.  Meanwhile,  my  own  coolness  was  liberally  ex 
tolled  until  I  felt  myself  somewhat  of  a  hero  and  had 
to  affect  an  unconsciousness  of  my  great  courage,  which 
sat  as  easily  upon  me  as  if  I  were  accustomed  to  be 
trampled  by  stallions. 

There  soon  came  in  other  visitors,  among  them  three 
or  four  dandies  whose  elegance  started  my  first  reflec 
tions  on  my  lack  of  fine  clothes,  since,  while  I  was  by 
no  means  shabby,  I  was  clearly  behind  the  fashion.  Of 
the  men  two  soon  showed  themselves  to  be  actors ;  one, 
Alden  by  name,  I  recognised  as  having  been  in  Lillian's 


34  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

company  the  night  before,  a  popular  and  pretty  good 
player.  The  talk  now  speedily  turned  on  stage  affairs, 
and  the  actors  all  declared  themselves  sick  of  their 
parts. 

As  they  were  in  no  good  humour  with  each  other, 
every  one  remained  oblivious  of  me,  who  was  neither 
player  nor  editor.  Upon  Lillian  plainly  rested  the  task 
of  harmony,  as,  the  company  being  hers,  the  play  had 
been  arranged  to  her  advantage.  An  unruly  flock, 
though  not  wholly  selfish,  they  were  evidently  hard  to 
please.  The  character  of  an  actor  resembles  that  of  a 
child.  He  is  almost  always  vain,  sensitive  and  jealous. 
Neither  travel  nor  the  study  of  human  manners  has  any 
effect  on  the  simplicity  of  these  traits,  while,  in  equal 
degree,  people  of  that  calling  are  generally  impulsive 
and  generous.  These  qualities  being  uppermost  in  those 
I  now  met,  Lillian  finally  put  them  all  in  good  humour, 
each  with  a  compliment  and  some  with  promises  of 
better  things. 

For  my  own  part,  after  essaying  a  few  remarks  on 
Congreve  or  Goldsmith  and  finding  only  very  modern 
instances  were  wanted,  of  which  I  knew  nothing,  I 
was  obliged  to  be  a  mere  listener,  hoping  all  the  while 
they  would  soon  leave  off  and  go  home,  so  that  I  could 
be  alone  with  Lillian.  That  lady,  busy  though  she  was, 
furnished  me  the  stimulant  of  an  occasional  glance, 
from  which  I  had  the  credulity  to  take  much  encour 
agement.  However,  I  did  not  fail  to  observe  that 
Alden  also  received  a  fair  share,  on  which  account  I 
immediately  conceived  a  great  prejudice  against  him, 
a  prejudice  that  became  all  the  greater  because  I  could 
find  nothing  wrong  in  him. 

Alden  was  one  of  those  actors  who  have  just  talent 


THE   BEAUTIFUL   ACTRESS        35 

enough  to  avoid,  under  all  circumstances,  the  fault  of 
awkwardness.  Without  the  slightest  genius,  he  was  al 
ways  sure  to  do  well.  His  success  was  in  those  so- 
called  gentleman's  characters  in  which  it  is  a  merit  to 
change  the  expression  of  the  face  by  no  more  than  a 
movement  of  the  eyebrows,  and  to  alter  the  costume 
no  more  than  from  a  smoking- jacket  to  an  evening 
suit.  Elegantly  dull,  he  would  be  indifferent  with  a 
cigarette,  or  serious  over  a  late  cup  of  coffee.  He  was 
the  same  in  every  part,  but  never  bad  in  any. 

When  at  length  the  company  began  to  disperse,  I 
was  the  last  to  go,  a  little  annoyed  without  knowing 
of  what  I  had  to  complain.  Determined  to  have  a  few 
words  alone  with  Lillian,  I  was  still  less  pleased  to  see 
that  in  this  she  was  giving  me  no  aid,  nor  had  I  yet 
stopped  to  reflect  that  this  beautiful  actress,  as  old  as 
myself  and  at  the  height  of  her  success,  would  have 
very  little  reason  to  trouble  her  head  about  me.  It 
would  have  been  still  more  mortifying  to  my  pride  to 
consider  that  perhaps  the  hospitality  I  had  already  en 
joyed  came  of  no  kindlier  feelings  than  that,  having 
nearly  killed  me  with  her  horse,  she  felt  herself  obliged 
to  offer  me  a  few  cups  of  tea. 

"My  ladies  are  all  delighted  with  you,"  she  said,  not 
resuming  her  seat  so  as  to  afford  me  an  excuse  to  linger 
after  the  last  had  gone.  "You  are  going  to  do  some 
mischief  here,  I  am  afraid,  so  I  hope  I  shall  often  catch 
a  glimpse  of  you  on  the  other  side  of  the  curtain. " 

"And  nowhere  else,  Miss "  I  inquired,  anxiously. 

"Where  else  do  you  mean  ?"  she  replied. 

"Why,  here ;  anywhere  you  permit." 

"What  a  flirt  you  are !"  she  exclaimed  in  a  tone  that 
gave  me  a  great  opinion  of  myself.  "You  know  you 


36  A   NICE  YOUNG   MAN 

will  forget  all  about  me  as  soon  as  your  back  is  turned. 
You  men  of  the  world  merely  trifle  with  us  poor 
women." 

Utterly  inexperienced  with  coquettes,  I  actually  con 
ceived  I  had  the  advantage  of  the  famous  beauty,  inso 
much  that  a  little  more  of  this  kind  of  talk  would  have 
made  me  feel  sorry  for  her,  the  fact  being  that  she  was 
too  tactful  to  dismiss  me  in  a  way  that  would  hurt  my 
feelings.  Besides,  like  most  coquettes,  she  desired,  even 
though  she  had  decided  to  see  no  more  of  me,  to  leave 
me  enough  hope  to  worship  her  in  secret. 

"Believe  me,"  I  exclaimed,  "I  will  never  look  at  an 
other  woman  on  this  earth  if  you " 

"Oh,  I  understand.  You  talk  like  the  rest  of  them. 
I'll  warrant  you  have  fifty  dainty  photographs  on  your 
dressing-table  you  are  ashamed  to  look  in  the  face." 

"I  will  throw  them  all  in  the  fire,"  I  replied,  too 
pleased  with  being  thought  a  gay  deceiver  to  deny  hav 
ing  conquests.  "And,  by  the  way,"  I  added,  "you  have 
here  a  heap  of  portraits  yourself."  Saying  this,  I  ran 
my  hand  through  a  trayful  at  my  side,  picking  up  two 
or  three  photographs  to  tease  her.  "What  has  become 
of  this  victim?"  I  asked.  "And  this,  and — but — why, 
here  is  a  photograph  of  my  uncle ;  yes,  my  uncle." 

She  looked  perplexed.  "Oh,  I  see,"  said  she,  "you 
are  the  nephew  of  George  Cameron — the  one  at  Al 
bany,  I  believe?" 

"Why,  yes,"  I  replied,  "and  you  know  him  ?" 

"Only  a  trifle,"  she  replied.  "We  poor  stage  people 
have  to  meet  everybody — including  some,"  looking 
archly  at  me,  "who  would  show  us  no  mercy  if  we  were 
not  determined  to  protect  ourselves.  But  go,  now.  I 


THE    BEAUTIFUL   ACTRESS        37 

must  have  my  nap  before  night.  Go,  I  say,  you  dear, 
bad  man.  Go." 

I  was  in  a  sweet  humour  with  my  fine  self  when  I 
turned  towards  my  lodgings,  and  on  the  way  I  repaired 
to  a  handsome  drinking-place,  where,  swallowing  a 
stout  swig,  I  surveyed  myself  in  the  mirror,  looked 
rakish,  and  felt  like  a  devil  of  a  fellow.  But  my  feel 
ings  were,  after  all,  less  the  exultation  of  vanity  than 
the  sensations  of  one  truly  in  love  with  the  most  perfect 
creature  in  the  world. 

Once  or  twice,  though,  I  recalled  my  uncle's  photo 
graph.  Why  should  she  know  him,  after  all  ?  In  spite 
of  myself  I  felt  she  had  not  been  frank. 


CHAPTER  VII 
LILLIAN 

OERHAPS  I  should  at  this  juncture  give  you  some 
description  of  female  charms  that  had  been  the 
delight  of  the  town  for  four  years,  and  which  a  very 
anchorite  could  not  have  beheld  with  indifference.  In 
age  Lillian  was  about  twenty-one,  of  good  height,  and 
of  shape  delicately  buxom.  Indeed,  her  figure  was  so 
far  past  criticism  that  even  her  rivals  allo\ved  it  per 
fection.  She  had  luxuriant  yellow  hair  in  a  tumult  of 
waves  and  curls,  big  blue  eyes,  a  skin  both  warm  and 
smooth.  Laughter  lurked  in  her  glance,  nor  did  twro 
dimples  suggest  undue  plumpness  in  a  face  nearly  oval. 
On  the  whole,  I  can  give  no  better  notion  of  her  appear 
ance  than  to  say  that  she  seemed  to  belong  to  the  daz 
zling  style  of  a  former  age,  to  be  one  of  those  historic 
beauties  who  succumbed  to  the  villainy  of  princes,  and 
who  humbled,  at  woeful  cost  to  themselves,  the  pride  of 
queens. 

Born  in  the  South,  she  had,  through  the  necessities 
of  the  stage,  nearly  rid  herself  of  local  accent,  but  she 
retained  many  of  the  characteristics  of  Southern 
women ;  above  all,  their  imperturbable  sweetness  in  cir 
cumstances  tedious  or  exasperating.  Generosity,  viva 
cious  healthy  good-nature,  and  a  disposition  to  flatter, 
as  well  as  banter,  distinguished  her  countenance.  On 

3* 


LILLIAN  39 

the  other  hand,  the  coquette  was  not  frivolous,  and  only 
the  more  experienced  observers  anticipated  trouble  for 
beauty  undefended  by  either  home  or  selfishness.  All 
agreed  that  a  dangerous  sort  of  imp  was  playing  hide- 
and-seek  within  her,  that  her  character  was  unsettled, 
and  that  fate  was  undecided  whether  to  adopt  her 
weakness  or  her  strength. 

At  this  period  Lillian  was  at  her  height  in  elegant 
comedy,  both  classical  and  modern,  a  charming  Bea 
trice  or  Lady  Spanker,  abounding  in  healthy  animal 
spirits,  in  spite  of  which  you  could  see  that  great  nat 
ural  tact  was  on  the  turn  towards  worldliness.  The 
latter  you  rarely  perceived,  for  as  yet  it  had  gained  in 
her  impulsive  breast  only  a  trifling  hold. 

She  had  been  in  New  York  just  four  years.  During 
the  first  two  she  had  been  guarded  by  an  aunt,  now 
dead,  as  was  her  own  mother,  and  at  this  time  she  was 
mistress  of  a  suite  of  apartments  where  she  was  visited 
by  her  father.  This  parent  resided  in  South  Carolina, 
save  for  visits  to  Washington  and  occasionally  to  New 
York,  the  cold  manners  of  which  he  found  intolerable. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
OBLIGED    TO    SEEK   WORK 

'"THE  next  morning  I  awoke  more  infatuated  than 
*  ever.  Do  what  I  would,  there  was  nothing  before 
my  mind  but  those  blooming,  voluptuous  charms.  To 
no  purpose  did  I  now  remind  myself  that  to  her  I 
could  be  nobody.  Morning  did,  indeed,  dissipate  the 
vanity  of  the  evening,  but  fresh  forces  were  continually 
poured  in  by  the  longings  of  the  heart.  Her  extraor 
dinary  beauty,  which  alone  could  excite  an  audience; 
her  age,  undoubtedly  equal  to  my  own ;  the  luxury  of 
her  life,  all  these,  though  they  placed  her  immeasur 
ably  beyond  me,  could  not  extinguish  hope.  The  whole 
day  was  wasted  in  finding  reasons,  as  well  as  resolu 
tions,  to  seek  her  again.  When  night  came  on  I  was 
first  before  the  curtain,  spending  in  the  ticket  nearly 
all  that  was  left  me  from  the  still  greater  extravagance 
of  flowers.  These  last  I  sent  behind  the  curtain.  Nor 
did  folly  fail  of  its  reward  in  several  glances  from  the 
stage,  glances  all  the  more  bewitching  from  the  emo 
tions  of  the  scene.  Lost  to  everything  else  in  the  house, 
I  invariably  started  and  concluded  the  applause. 

Finding  fresh  intoxication  and  encouragement,  too, 
during  this  performance,  I  resolved  to  see  her  again 
that  night.  For  this  purpose  I  waited  at  the  players' 
door,  and  was  not  disappointed ;  for,  coming  out,  she 

40 


OBLIGED   TO    SEEK   WORK        4* 

recognised  me  with  a  smile.  Alden,  I  noticed,  was  at 
her  side. 

"You  encouraged  me  very  much  this  evening,"  she 
whispered  in  a  tone  that  put  me  in  ecstasy.  "You  make 
It  too  hard  to  forget  you,  Mr.  Cameron." 

Much  excited,  I  followed  her  to  the  carriage,  nod 
ding  coldly  to  her  escort. 

"No,  no,"  she  said,  with  a  glance  in  which  I  per 
ceived  regret.  "At  some  other  time.  You  know — I 
will  explain.  Good-night." 

With  that  she  was  in  her  carriage  and  away. 

No  longer  could  it  be  doubted.  I  was  beloved.  The 
queen  of  the  stage  was  mine.  Her  triumphs  were  my 
own.  I  rejoiced  on  my  way  home  in  the  pictures  of 
her  that -I  saw  on  the  billboards,  in  the  windows  and 
among  the  advertisements  of  various  wares  which 
claimed  a  merit  in  her  approval  or  had  been  honoured 
with  her  name. 

I  had  certainly  been  the  happiest  of  mankind  during 
these  few  days,  had  I  not  found  myself  now  in  sorry 
need  of  money.  My  little  funds  were  at  last  reduced 
to  three  dollars.  Every  hope  I  could  give  myself  in 
the  publishers  was  exhausted,  and  my  board  would 
soon  again  be  due.  Nevertheless,  I  was  at  the  play  the 
next  night,  received  the  arrows  of  love  again,  and  was 
happy  in  seeing  her  at  the  door,  where,  though  the 
crowd  prevented  our  speaking  to  each  other,  she  was 
able  to  work  further  mischief  with  a  glance  in  which 
pleasure  and  sadness  were  fascinatingly  blended. 

By  the  next  day  my  affairs  became  pressing,  for  it 
was  with  great  pains  I  was  able  to  pay  for  my  wash 
ing.  I  began  to  walk  the  streets,  in  order  to  get  sug 
gestions  of  employment  and  to  scan  the  advertisements 


42  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

of  those  who  wanted  young  men.  The  place  of  sales 
man  or  of  clerk  I  could  not  consider.  There  were  no 
precedents  in  literary  biography  for  that.  Genius  had 
often  been  ragged,  but  places  like  those  it  always  ap 
peared  to  have  escaped. 

Youth  betrays  its  troubles  as  quickly  as  its  joys,  so 
my  low  spirits  that  evening  did  not  escape  the  notice 
of  another  boarder,  the  assistant  manager  of  a  whole 
sale  house,  who  from  time  to  time  had  had  talks  with 
me.  Offering  me  a  cigar  in  a  corner  of  the  smoking- 
room  after  dinner,  he  asked  me  to  excuse  an  older  man 
like  himself  for  inquiring  whether  I  was  not  feeling 
somewhat  blue.  This  induced  frankness  on  my  part, 
until  by  degrees  he  was  made  acquainted  with  my  whole 
situation.  He  then  informed  me  that  he  never  failed 
to  see  through  the  surface  of  things,  or  to  read  a  man 
as  easily  as  a  book,  so  he  had  hardly  needed  to  be  told 
how  things  stood  with  me,  illustrating  his  sagacity 
with  numerous  instances,  in  all  of  which  he  appeared 
to  have  rendered  good  turns  to  a  succession  of  ungrate 
ful  young  knaves.  After  such  ill-usage  by  human  na 
ture  I  was  much  surprised  at  his  making  an  offer  to 
me.  He  could  make  room  for  me,  he  said,  among  his 
shipping  clerks.  Earnestly  thanking  him,  I  promptly 
accepted  the  place  without  consideration  for  the  dignity 
of  letters. 

"The  job,"  he  said,  "is  nothing  to  grumble  at.  The 
hours  are  easy — from  half-past  eight  in  the  morning 
until  six  in  the  evening,  with  half  an  hour  for  lunch 
at  noon.  Our  house  prides  itself  on  being  reasonable. 
We  require  some  night  work,  an  occasional  Sunday 
morning  besides;  though,  you  understand,  there  come 
special  seasons  when  all  have  to  work  without  regard 


OBLIGED    TO    SEEK   WORK        43 

to  hours;  but,  considering  that  you  begin  with  seven 
dollars  a  week  and  the  hours  are  so  reasonable,  you'll 
not  mind  giving  the  house  occasional  nights  and  half- 
holidays,  if  you  have  the  good  of  the  house  at  heart. 
That's  what  we  want.  We  want  young  men  who  work 
for  us,  and  not  for  themselves." 

My  heart  sank  at  the  picture  he  was  drawing,  but 
he  went  on,  explaining  the  requirements  of  punctuality, 
that  each  man  was  assigned  a  number,  that  he  must 
press  this  number  upon  a  wheel,  by  way  of  registry, 
every  time  he  left  the  house  or  re-entered  it,  so  that 
even  a  moment's  tardiness  might  be  put  to  his  dis 
credit. 

"The  only  particular,  though,"  he  resumed,  "in  which 
the  company  is  inclined  to  be  severe  is  in  what  I  call 
the  ability  to  make  excuses.  We  don't  want  any  man 
that  can  give  a  good  excuse." 

"But  what,"  I  inquired,  "what  if  it  be  a  really  good 
one?  What  do  you  do?" 

"Discharge  him.  Discharge  the  fellow  at  once.  No 
excuses  at  all  is  our  maxim,  young  man.  Take,  for  in 
stance,  a  shipping  clerk.  He  will  say,  probably,  he  is 
too  sick  that  day.  Discharge  him.  Sickness  is  no  ex 
cuse.  If  one  can  plead  sickness,  then  all  of  them  can. 
Discharge  him.  That  is  the  best  tonic  for  the  best  of 
them.  No,  sir;  a  house  should  be  kind,  but  it  must  be 
firm." 

I  asked  him  indifferently  when  I  might  begin  my 
work,  to  which  he  replied  that  I  might  begin  the  next 
morning. 

"We  have  received  an  unexpected  lot  of  new  busi 
ness  and  are  in  need  of  men,  but  I  am  making  a  par 
ticular  point  of  making  room  for  you." 


44  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Acknowledging  his  kindness  in  thus  making  room 
for  what  he  had  to  have,  I  bade  him  good-night  with 
a  heavy  heart. 

As  I  was  going  to  my  room  I  sat  down  to  chat  a 
moment  with  Mrs.  Dobson,  in  the  course  of  which  talk 
I  happened  to  mention  my  uncle. 

"Him  that  lives  at  Albany,  you  mean?"  she  ex 
claimed.  "Your  uncle,  eh?  Well,  I  don't  know  him 
personally,  so  to  speak,  but  I  almost  feel  as  much,  being 
acquainted  with  his  housekeeper,  Mrs.  Dole,  who  came 
from  my  part  of  the  old  country,  though  on  account 
of  some  difference  in  our  family  rank  she  had  no  op 
portunity  to  be  familiar,  not  meaning,  you  understand, 
any  reflections  on  Mrs.  Dole,  a  friend  of  yours " 

"No  friend  of  mine,  Mrs.  Dobson,"  I  replied. 

"Well,"  she  continued,  "I'm  not  blaming  you  if  some 
things  disgust  you,  and  God  knows  it's  not  for  me  to 
pass  judgment  on  Maria  Dole,  but  people  will  talk,  Mr. 
Cameron,  and  it's  no  small  temptation,  that  fortune  at 
Albany,  to  a  woman  in  Maria  Dole's  position,  though 
there'd  be  less  talk,  she  ought  to  see,  if  she'd  let  the 
man  at  least  take  a  trip  to  New  York  without  following 
him  to  the  apartments  of  prominent  persons  who  are 
watched  by  all  the  reporters." 

"What  in  the  world  do  you  mean,  Mrs,  Dobson?"  I 
inquired. 

"It's  not  for  me  to  say,"  she  replied,  with  a  knowing 
look,  "having  friends  on  the  press,  where  all  this  thing 
is  in  everybody's  mouth." 

Unable  to  get  more  out  of  her,  I  grew  testy. 

"You  spoke  of  my  uncle's  fortune,  Mrs.  Dobson.  If 
he  makes  no  will  the  property  passes  to  me,  but  if  he 


OBLIGED    TO    SEEK   WORK        45 

makes  one,  Maria  Dole  or  any  one  else  may  have  it, 
every  cent  of  it,  for  all  I  care." 

With  this  I  bade  her  a  sufficiently  pleasant  good 
night  and  went  to  bed  more  disgusted  with  life  than 
ever. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE    ENDING    OF   MY    LABOUR 

M  EVER  was  mortal  more  wretched  than  I  when  I 
found  myself  the  next  morning,  at  a  dirty  desk 
among  boxes  and  bales.  I  had  hoped  to  have  at  least 
a  little  portion  of  a  room  to  myself,  but  I  was  now  glad 
to  have  space  for  my  elbows,  whilst  daylight  could  be 
enjoyed  during  not  above  an  hour  of  the  day.  as  we 
were  huddled  in  a  basement  which  received  light  only 
through  a  glass  sidewalk.  Nor  was  my  labour  of  the 
dignity  even  of  clerical  service.  I  was  obliged  to  write 
upon  the  boxes,  with  a  little  black  paint,  their  destina 
tion,  making  at  first  sorry  work  of  it,  to  the  contempt 
of  a  little  whelp  close  by,  whose  slang  and  cheap  man 
ner  of  making  fun  filled  me  with  disgust.  My  unhap- 
piness  increasing  each  day,  I  was,  by  the  end  of  the 
third,  a  miserable  object  indeed,  nor  could  anything  less 
than  desperation  have  kept  me  at  it  so  long. 

Meanwhile  I  had  to  apologise  for  some  errors  which 
had  caused  inconvenience,  every  mistake,  however 
trivial,  being  infinitely  exaggerated  among  people  in 
these  occupations.  Being  asked  to  explain  one  of  them, 
I  answered  that  I  knew  not  how  it  had  happened,  as  I 
had  thought  very  carefully  before  doing  it. 

"Thought !"  exclaimed  my  superior.     "There's  the 

trouble,  damn  it !     Don't  think !     We  don't  hire  our 

46 


THE    ENDING    OF   MY   LABOUR    47 

young  men  to  think.  We  do  the  thinking  ourselves. 
All  we  want  of  you  is  to  do  what  we  think." 

This  censure  being  overheard  by  others,  my  next 
blunder  was  followed  by  whispers  that  Cameron  had 
been  thinking  again.  However,  the  whole  business 
came  to  a  head  pretty  quickly,  when  I  finally  labelled 
a  carload  of  boxes  to  Portland,  Oregon,  instead  of 
Portland,  Maine,  the  shipment  being  off  by  what  is 
called  fast  freight.  In  point  of  fact,  the  blame  was 
just  as  much  due  to  one  considerably  above  me  in  au 
thority,  but  as  he  contrived  to  throw  it  on  me  there 
was  nothing  left  me  but  to  get  out  of  the  place  before 
I  should  be  dismissed.  This  I  did,  receiving  with  a 
hanging  look  a  few  dollars  paid  me  in  silence. 

Heartily  sick  of  my  situation,  I  nevertheless  bought 
a  seat  at  the  play  that  night,  beheld  my  beauty  again, 
the  delight  of  the  house,  and  shared  in  the  distribution 
of  her  smiles.  Flowers  I  could  no  longer  send  her,  as 
1  was  now  in  such  straits  that  I  had  had  to  remove 
from  my  fine  boarding-house  to  humble  lodgings  and 
to  pawn  my  watch.  Things  went  from  bad  to  worse. 
In  a  few  days  I  was  at  my  wits'  ends,  in  a  few  more 
in  the  first  stages  of  hunger.  Then  it  was  that  I  did 
an  act  of  weakness,  the  shame  of  which  has  lingered 
in  my  mind  ever  since.  I  spent  my  last  quarter  in  a 
telegram  to  my  uncle :  "If  you  don't  send  me  ten  dol 
lars  I  shall  commit  suicide/'  to  which  the  old  brute 
sent  promptly  the  reply :  "Commit  suicide." 


CHAPTER  X 
WHY   I   WAS   UNHAPPY 

\17  HAT  agonies  did  I  endure  that  day !  It  was, 
however,  the  worst.  In  the  depths  of  despair, 
returning  at  night  from  an  unhappy  walk,  I  found  a 
reply  to  one  of  the  many  answers  I  had  sent  to  adver 
tisements,  a  communication  from  a  widow  who,  de 
siring  a  tutor  for  a  son  of  twelve,  appointed  an  hour 
the  next  day  when  I  should  call  and,  so  to  speak,  be 
inspected. 

You  may  well  believe  I  was  not  behind-hand  in  keep 
ing  my  appointment,  repairing  thither  with  infinite  anx 
iety.  I  had  the  luck  to  find  the  lady  at  home. 

The  house  was  in  the  most  elegant  quarter  of  the 
town,  not  a  great  way  from  old  Sinclair's,  where  I  had 
fared  so  poorly,  and  in  all  respects,  within  and  without, 
the  abode  of  luxury.  The  family  I  found  was,  saving 
the  servants,  only  the  mother  and  boy.  To  this  brat, 
who  was  at  once  brought  before  me,  I  instantly  took 
a  great  dislike,  for  he  was  so  ugly,  as  well  as  mean  in 
countenance,  that  it  seemed  inexcusable  in  anybody  to 
have  begotten  him.  Plainly  indulged  and  self-willed, 
he  had  a  bad  digestion  from  excess  in  candies  while  his 
mother  had  her  eyes  upon  him,  and  cigarettes  when  her 
back  was  turned.  Paradise  in  getting  on  with  this 
whelp  was  before  me,  but  after  the  wholesale  house  and 
six  days  of  poor  food,  anything  was  welcome. 

48 


WHY   I   WAS    UNHAPPY  49 

The  woman  being  of  simple,  vulgar  origin,  was  very 
glad  to  find  herself  raised  to  a  position  where  she  could 
snub  some  one  and  be  a  lady.  I  showed  her  the  letter 
my  uncle  had  given  me  to  his  friend,  a  rich  man  of 
leisure  then  in  Europe,  for  I  had  had  the  foresight  to 
bring  this  with  me,  as  well  as  the  prudence  to  say  noth 
ing  of  old  Sinclair.  Her  manner  changed  very  favour 
ably  towards  me  as  she  saw  I  was  the  nephew  of  a  rich 
old  gentleman  on  familiar  terms  with  one  of  the  most 
fashionable  families  in  town.  She  engaged  me  forth 
with,  setting  my  salary  at  seventy-five  dollars  a  month, 
besides  residence  with  her  family. 

To  her  account  of  her  son  I  listened  with  the  air  of 
one  who  not  only  believed  it  all,  but  felt  it  was  even 
too  little  to  say  of  so  unusual  a  child.  She  suggested 
our  taking  walks  together. 

"I  shall  be  delighted,"  I  said,  "to  take  him  long 
walks,  Mrs.  Johnson/* 

"Not  very  long,  I  hope,"  replied  she,  "for  his  health 
is  none  too  good." 

"Of  course,  not  too  long,  madam,  as  I  shall  make 
it  a  point  to  lose  no  time  from  our  studies." 

"Not  too  much  time  over  books,  either,  Mr.  Cam 
eron,  for  I  am  not  so  sure  about  his  eyes,  as  his  father, 
shortly  after  he  turned  sixty,  was  considerably  bothered 
in  reading." 

When  I  came  down  to  breakfast  the  first  morning  I 
found  the  lady  already  astir.  She  told  me  she  had  not 
yet  ordered  breakfast,  except  to  give  her  son  some 
thing,  as  he  was  only  a  boy,  but  had  been  waiting  to 
see  what  my  wishes  were. 

"I  scarcely  care  for  a  mouthful  myself,  Mr.  Cam 
eron,"  she  said,  with  no  small  affectation.  "I  rarely 


50  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

eat  in  the  morning,  and  I  suppose,  like  most  intelligent 
people,  you  care  nothing  for  breakfast." 

Famished  though  I  was,  I  made  it  clear  I  cared  noth 
ing  for  that  meal  which,  among  people  of  elegance,  was 
in  bad  repute,  growing  in  truth  quite  emphatic  in  my 
criticism  of  all  eating  as  a  savage  and  lowly  inclination 
not  to  be  indulged. 

The  good  lady  soon  left  me,  to  give  her  orders  for 
the  breakfast,  which,  notwithstanding  our  style  of  talk, 
1  doubted  not,  furnished  by  a  fat  and  hearty  hostess, 
would  be  of  the  old-fashioned  sort,  a  spread  of  fat 
little  sausages,  fried  eggs  and  hot  cakes,  without  end 
of  toast  and  coffee,  besides  everything  else  that  the 
imagination  of  hunger  could  conceive.  We  were  soon 
seated  at  the  table,  which,  in  truth,  looked  a  little  bare 
to  begin  with. 

"It  is  such  a  pleasure,"  said  Mrs.  Johnson,  "to  sit 
down  with  a  man  of  well-bred  appetite.  Nothing  is 
worse  than  eating  in  the  morning,  when  the  stomach 
is  empty.  Time  should  be  given  the  stomach  to  accus 
tom  itself,  the  best  books  all  say,  to  the  fresh  reception 
of  food.  For  this  reason,  a  fair  little  luncheon  should 
follow  a  light  breakfast,  and  then  one  can  eat  a  good 
meal,  not  excessively,  of  course,  but  healthfully,  at 
dinner." 

"Exactly,  Mrs.  Johnson,"  I  replied.  "It  would  be 
better  if  more  people  followed  such  sensible  rules." 

With  this  I  descanted  on  frugal  fare,  on  hardy,  prim 
itive  races  of  men,  as  well  as  on  modern  gluttony,  the 
sure  concomitant  of  declining  virtue.  By  this  time  I 
was  served  with  a  cup  of  hot  water. 

"Tea  and  coffee,"  said  Lady  Bountiful,  "are  poison 
ous  things,  and  I  am  glad  you  don't  seem  to  crave 


WHY    I   WAS    UNHAPPY  51 

them.  Will  you  have  one  of  those  patent  biscuits? 
Toast  we  never  have,  nor  bread  at  all  before  noon." 

I  took  and  devoured  the  biscuit  in  silence,  being  past 
all  further  eloquence,  and  was  told  that  butter  having 
been  found  injurious  to  Eddie,  it  could  not  appear  on 
the  table,  though  I  could  see  by  crumbs  on  that  young 
gentleman's  clothes  that  he  had  already  been  faring 
better  in  the  kitchen.  I  was  next  allowed  an  orange, 
which  concluded  the  breakfast. 

At  luncheon  what  was  our  fare  but  milk,  porridge 
and  dry  toast  served  in  small  portions  to  the  praises  of 
fashionable  simplicity.  To  add  to  my  annoyance  I 
sniffed  tantalising  odours  from  the  kitchen,  of  fish  and 
bacon  which  the  servants,  unthinking  and  obstinate 
kine,  undoubtedly  demanded.  As  for  my  good  lady, 
she  was  so  plainly  mad  on  theories  of  food  and  of 
growing  healthy  by  fashionable  starvation  that  I  was 
in  despair.  However,  I  contrived  to  keep  a  good  face 
in  spite  of  the  pangs  within,  for  I  felt  sure  that  nature 
would  conquer  this  folly  in  the  woman  by  dinner-time. 
That  repast  concluded  my  hopes  with  thin  soup,  a  poor 
bit  of  fish,  a  potato  and  some  accursed  kind  of  bread. 

I  was  now  experiencing  the  whims  of  the  rich  and 
the  eccentricities  of  the  idle.  Pies,  steaks,  rich  jellies, 
and  steaming  roasts  haunted  my  sleep.  I  dreamed  of 
good  cheer  and  awoke  in  the  midst  of  banquets.  With 
out  a  penny  in  my  pocket  during  my  walks  by  day,  I 
would  go  by  restaurants  and  baker  shops,  like  a  hun 
gry  child,  to  view  their  savoury  wares. 


CHAPTER  XI 
LILLIAN    AND    MY   UNCLE 

O  UT  I  was  not  too  hungry  to  remember  Lillian,  of 
whom  troublesome  doubts,  indefinable  jealousy, 
began  to  enter  my  heart.  To  steal  from  my  employ 
ment  an  afternoon  when  I  could  see  her  was,  accord 
ingly,  continually  in  my  mind;  so,  after  some  days,  I 
was  again  at  her  door.  The  servant  hesitated  to  admit 
me,  as  one  under  uncertainty  concerning  his  instruc 
tions,  and  when  he  did  so,  I  felt  in  his  mistress'  greet 
ing  that  something  was  wrong. 

"How  unfortunate!"  she  exclaimed.  "I  am  just 
about  to  go  out.  You  will  excuse  me,  won't  you  ?" 

I  saw  she  was  dressed  to  lounge,  so  I  asked  if  she 
meant  that  she  was  going  out  immediately. 

"This  very  moment,  just  now,"  she  replied,  noticing 
her  dress.  "I  must  change  this  gown.  You'll  excuse 
me,  won't  you  ?"  This  very  uneasily,  and  then  adding 
with  a  pout :  "You  dear  man." 

Her  manner  being  more  unsatisfactory  even  than  her 
words,  I  was  rising  slowly  to  obey,  when  she  abruptly 
moved  by  me  to  the  door  that  led  into  the  hall.  Some 
body  was  coming  in. 

"This  way,  if  you  please,"  I  could  hear  the  servant 
say. 

"Just  a  moment,  please,"  exclaimed  Lillian  to  the 
servant  beyond  the  curtains ;  "a  moment,  please." 

52 


LILLIAN   AND    MY   UNCLE         53 

She  was  too  late.  The  guest  entered.  It  was  my 
uncle. 

Clever  though  she  was,  Lillian  was  at  a  loss  for 
words.  My  uncle  was  in  confusion,  and  I  in  amaze 
ment.  But  the  actress  was  the  first  to  recover  her  wits. 

"How  pleasant  that  you  two  should  meet  here!"  she 
said. 

Then  she  laughed  foolishly,  my  uncle  murmured 
some  lie  or  other,  and  I,  for  want  of  any,  hurried  out 
of  the  house. 

Had  Lillian  appeared  little  concerned,  had  she  not 
obviously  endeavoured  to  prevent  my  seeing  my  uncle, 
or  his  seeing  me,  I  should  have  been  less  perplexed,  and, 
even  as  it  was,  I  could  not  feel  jealous  of  gray  hairs. 
The  next  day,  to  my  joy,  I  received  a  note  from  her, 
setting  five  o'clock  that  day  to  see  me. 

"I  wished/'  said  she,  "to  give  you  an  hour.  We 
have  been  so  badly  intruded  on.  You  know  you  inter 
est  me,  so  I  may  as  well  admit  it." 

Not  for  a  moment  did  she  make  a  point  of  wishing 
to  explain  anything.  That  came  about  apparently  in 
the  most  natural  way. 

"Do  you  know,"  she  observed,  when  she  had  intro 
duced  that  topic,  "I  was  aware  your  uncle  was  coming. 
He  met  me  a  week  or  two  ago,  and — well,  you  know — 
sometimes  old  gentlemen  will  insist — you  understand, 
and  I  haven't  the  slightest  objection  to  giving  him  an 
occasional  half-hour,  if  that  will  do  him  any  good — 
but,  what  I  mean  is,  I  knew  there  were  strained  rela 
tions  between  you." 

"I  suppose  he  told  you  he  doesn't  like  me,"  I  an 
swered.  "Confound  his  money.  Let  him  give  it  to 
any  one  he  pleases." 


54  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Hush,  dear,"  said  she.     "He's  made  a  will,  I  sup 


pose?' 


don't  know  and  don't  care,  the  old- 


"Now,  don't  grow  angry.  The  law  of  it  is,  isn't  it, 
that  if  he  makes  no  will,  the  estate  goes  to  you  ?" 

"Oh,  yes,"  answered  I,  "but  let  him  make " 

Then  she  stopped  me  again,  shifted  the  subject  and 
sent  me  home  happy  enough,  when  some  one  else  sent 
up  a  card. 


CHAPTER  XII 
HOW    I    LOST    EMPLOYMENT 

see  Lillian  frequently  was  out  of  the  question. 
My  duties  at  Mrs.  Johnson's  filled  all  my  after 
noons,  especially  as  this  lady,  knowing  my  elegant  con 
nections,  would  make  a  companion  of  me  over  a  cup 
of  tea  and  introduce  me  to  such  ladies  as  happened  to 
visit  her  between  three  and  six.  Here,  I  may  add,  we 
commonly  heard  the  praises  of  fasting. 

The  majority  probably  had  as  little  patience  as  I  with 
this  singularity,  but  I  could  occasionally  hear  ladies 
discuss  with  her  their  rival  indifference  to  food.  I  saw 
plainly  enough  that  eating  was  a  thing  to  be  ashamed 
of,  and  that  the  world  had  been  in  error  about  this 
practice  too  long.  Foods  that  stayed  the  stomach  with 
out  imposing  upon  it  the  indignity  of  digestion,  small 
tablets  with  which  you  could  speedily  charge  yourself, 
and  liquids  which  ignored  the  palate  though  they  had 
to  pass  it,  these  were  the  dainty  morsels  of  science. 

Passing  the  drawing-room  one  day,  I  found  Mrs. 
Johnson  in  conversation  with  a  young  woman,  whom 
I  had  not  seen  in  the  house  before,  but  to  whom  I  was 
then  introduced.  Judge  of  my  surprise  to  hear  the 
name  of  Sinclair.  It  was  no  other  than  Betty,  who, 
with  prompt  cordiality,  indicated  her  pleasure  in  seeing 
me  again,  while  explaining  to  her  hostess  that  I  had 

55 


56  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

one  day  called  at  her  father's  house  upon  business,  a 
pleasant  and  successful  answer  to  Mrs.  Johnson's  rising 
curiosity. 

As  this  young  lady  is  to  appear  many  times  hereafter 
in  this  account  of  myself,  it  is  proper  I  should  fairly 
describe  her  now.  Betty  was  about  nineteen,  plump 
but  not  fat,  rosy  with  health  and  of  medium  height. 
She  had  pretty  teeth  and  round  eyes,  together  with 
really  handsome  and  luxuriant  hair.  Of  happy  counte 
nance,  she  had  a  responsive  smile  and  an  agreeable 
laugh,  though  she  was  by  no  means  given  to  levity, 
being,  upon  the  contrary,  a  girl  of  intelligent  and  se 
rious  mind.  Above  all  things,  her  face  possessed  the 
charm  that  never  grows  dull,  credulity,  the  unmistak 
able  sign  of  female  innocence,  the  stamp  of  Heaven 
upon  the  pure. 

After  we  had  talked  some  time,  Betty  arising  to  go, 
I  asked  if  I  might  walk  with  her  to  her  home,  forget 
ting  for  a  moment  the  unpleasant  memories  I  had  of 
it.  The  pleasure  she  showed  at  this,  though  not  too 
marked,  was  sufficient  to  disclose  that  I  was  very  kindly 
regarded,  and  indeed,  had  my  heart  not  been  so  full  of 
Lillian,  I  would  have  attached  more  importance  to  her 
favour  and  have  drawn  more  sanguine  conclusions 
from  the  smiles  of  the  daughter  of  a  millionaire. 

On  the  way  home  Betty  made  plain  her  interest  in 
me. 

"You  were  brave  to  return  that  little  money,  Mr. 
Cameron,"  she  said. 

Then  she  wished  to  know  how  I  had  fared  without 
it,  how  I  had  had  the  good  luck  to  get  the  place  of 
tutor  in  so  rich  a  family,  how  hard  the  work  was, 


HOW   I   LOST   EMPLOYMENT       57 

whether  I  liked  the  boy,  and  a  dozen  other  things  which 
it  was  pleasant  to  be  asked. 

"You  are  going  to  make  a  great  success  in  life,"  said 
Betty,  confidently. 

Prolonging  the  walk  somewhat,  we  talked  on  various 
subjects  which  further  showed  the  sweet  candour  of 
her  mind.  When  I  happened  to  mention  atheists,  she 
remarked : 

"They  are  simply  trying  to  appear  bright.  The  thing 
is  so  plain.  If  there  is  no  God,  where  has  all  this  world 
come  from?'* 

Betty  now  contrived  to  increase  her  visits  to  Mrs. 
Johnson's.  Indeed,  she  grew  suddenly  devoted  to  that 
lady,  who,  feeling  the  pleasure  which  attentions  of 
youth  give  to  those  who  are  no  longer  young,  encour 
aged  her  visits,  while  I,  having  really  little  to  do,  was 
able  and  glad  to  give  her  much  of  my  company. 

No  man  on  earth  could  have  been  more  enviable  than 
I  if  it  had  not  been  for  two  things — my  love  for  Lillian, 
and  those  incessant  clamours  of  my  stomach.  When 
I  looked  at  my  hostess  I  wondered  what  she  lived  upon, 
since,  far  from  being  a  sickly  dyspeptic,  she  was  of 
portly  build,  of  healthy  complexion,  round,  even  robust. 
One  would  naturally  have  set  her  down  as  something 
of  a  glutton.  Yet,  to  trifle  with  the  trifles  she  permitted 
to  be  served  was  plainly  a  joy  superior  to  eating,  while 
I,  poor  blockhead,  had  estopped  myself,  so  to  speak, 
from  asserting  appetite,  by  my  philosophic  disdain  of 
it  to  begin  with,  besides  having  practically  done  as 
much  for  her  by  repeated  compliments  on  the  daintiness 
of  her  eating — compliments  that  added  to  her  enjoy 
ment  of  her  own  singularity. 

One  day,  Mrs.  Johnson  and  the  boy  having  gone  to 


58  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

dine  at  a  friend's,  I  saw  my  chance  and  gave  the  butler 
an  order  for  a  substantial  meal,  explaining  to  him  as 
best  I  could  a  whim  of  appetite,  for  I  could  not  admit 
to  the  flunky  that  all  he  had  heard  me  say  at  the  table 
against  having  one's  fill  was  a  lie.  The  fellow,  seeing 
through  it  all,  ordered  for  me  a  fat  steak,  potatoes  fried 
in  butter,  and  the  Lord  knows  what,  as  much  for  his 
own  enjoyment  at  seeing  me  expose  my  hypoc 
risy  as  for  any  pleasure  to  me.  On  this,  the 
moment  it  was  set  before  me,  I  fell  like  a  wolf,  the 
water  running  from  my  eyes  as  I  began  to  devour  it. 
I  needed  Gargantua's  mouth.  Hardly,  however,  was  I 
fairly  started,  when,  to  my  utter  confusion,  Mrs.  John 
son,  who  had  unexpectedly  returned,  appeared  in  the 
room.  Not  Sancho  under  the  cruel  wand  of  Doctor 
Aguero  suffered  more  than  I  as  I  looked  up  with  burst 
ing  cheeks,  unable  to  get  my  voice  through  the  enor 
mous  mouthful.  At  first,  in  my  embarrassment,  I  was 
about  to  tell  her  I  was  not  well,  an  absurdity  which 
perhaps  even  her  slow  head  would  have  deemed  cause 
for  laughter;  but  as,  after  some  indecision,  she  at 
length  took  a  seat,  I  asked  if  she  would  not  have  some 
thing. 

"Not  at  all,  Mr.  Cameron,"  she  replied.  "You  know 
how  little  I  care  for  heavy  meals.  Some  little  trifle  will 
do,  John." 

"I  mentioned  to  John  that,  on  account  of  your  ab 
sence,  I  would  have  a  bit  more  than  usual,  but,  as  you 
see,  he  has  set  enough  before  me  for  a  plowman,"  I  re 
plied;  after  which,  with  a  supreme  effort,  I  fell  to 
playing  with  the  juicy  morsels  and  concluded  the  ruin 
of  my  repast. 

From  this  time  there  arose  embarrassment  between 


HOW    I    LOST    EMPLOYMENT       59 

us,  though  the  old  fare  was  continued,  both  unwilling 
to  yield  a  particle  in  our  lofty  positions.  But  the  thing 
came  speedily  to  a  head  near  the  close  of  my  month. 
Returning  one  day  much  sooner  than  usual  from  a 
walk,  which  I  commonly  took  about  five  o'clock,  I  had 
occasion  to  go  to  Eddie's  room,  an  apartment  very  near 
a  small  boudoir  of  his  mother's.  The  door  happened  to 
be  wide  open.  I  looked,  as  yet  unheard,  and  stood  in 
astonishment,  for  the  mystery  of  my  lady  anchorite's 
appetite  was  revealed.  There  she  sat  wallowing,  I 
might  say,  in  a  steaming  tray.  A  fat  bird,  a  pile  of 
toast,  rich  egg-plant,  the  early  luxury  of  Florida, 
onions  crisply  fried,  and,  above  all,  a  small  bottle  of 
champagne  made  up  this  solitary  feast  in  which  she 
was  revelling  with  greasy  contentment.  I  turned  to 
escape  unnoticed,  but  was  too  slow.  She  saw  that  she 
had  been  seen.  In  a  day  or  two  she  handed  me  a  check 
for  my  salary,  with  the  comment  that  she  feared  we 
did  not  understand  each  other,  a  remark  which,  as  it 
was  uttered  at  the  only  time  when  we  did  understand 
each  other,  was,  I  conceive,  entirely  untrue. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
A   PRIVATE    SECRETARY 

T  WAS  not  destined,  after  the  loss  of  this  place,  to 
'  be  long-  in  want  of  another,  for,  during  the  last 
two  days  of  my  stay  with  Mrs.  Johnson,  seeing  my 
impending  dismissal,  I  had  cast  about  for  fresh  employ 
ment.  It  had  been  my  good  luck  to  meet  one  after 
noon  at  my  late  employer's  a  rich  widow,  who  had 
asked  me  to  find  for  her  a  secretary  among  my  ac 
quaintances,  so  it  was  soon  my  privilege  to  suggest  my 
self.  She  accepted  me  after  a  little  inquiry.  I  was 
allowed  a  hundred  dollars  a  month. 

My  new  employment  was  much  superior  to  the  old. 
I  had  little  to  do,  and  the  family  I  was  in  was  a  culti 
vated  one.  To  answer  letters  from  persons  asking  aid, 
to  keep  small  accounts,  to  collect  rents  and  perform 
kindred  duties  not  assigned  to  other  persons  employed 
by  a  considerable  estate,  these  were  the  tasks  which  I 
had  to  discharge  with  little  urgency.  There  were  three 
children,  who  gave  me  little  trouble,  and  who,  had  they 
done  so,  would  have  been  reproved.  Always  received 
with  cordiality,  I  was  never  encouraged  by  familiarity, 
and  while  I  was  never  made  to  feel  the  contempt  of 
service,  I  was  not  allowed  to  forget  the  obligations  of 
employment. 

Mrs.  Oldworth  was  a  woman  of  sense  and  dignity, 

60 


A   PRIVATE    SECRETARY          61 

nor  had  either  time  or  trouble  soured  the  sweetness  of 
her  disposition.  Her  first  marriage  had  been  a  miser 
able  one.  The  greatest  of  misfortunes  had  been  hers, 
to  love  devotedly  one  who  had  never  been  worthy  of 
her  love,  but  who  had  utterly  deceived  her  and  her  fam 
ily  before  the  marriage,  which  in  fact  he  had  sought 
for  no  other  object  than  money. 

The  fellow's  base  character  was  not  revealed  until  a 
few  months  after  the  wedding,  when  he  began  a  series 
of  frolics  with  her  inheritance.  He  soon  went  from  bad 
to  worse,  the  wife,  for  her  part,  steadfastly  standing 
by  him  amid  apologies,  blushes  and  shame.  The  poor 
creature  long  tried  to  conceal  her  humiliation  from  the 
public,  not  knowing  that  the  public,  as  usual,  knew  about 
most  of  his  rascality  before  she  did  herself.  In  vain 
did  she  plead  with  him,  in  vain  with  tears  and  caresses 
show  him  the  babe  she  had  borne  him,  and  with  gentle 
acts  of  love  endeavour  to  make  attractive  the  home  he 
disdained,  desolate  so  long.  Once  she  had  shown 
temper,  and  then  he  knocked  her  down.  For  the  child's 
sake  she  remained  beneath  the  roof  which  custom  called 
his,  but  she  would  no  longer  supply  him  with  money. 
This  drove  him  to  theft  of  her  jewels,  which  being  soon 
consumed,  he  tore  from  her  fingers  the  few  that  re 
mained,  the  tokens  of  love  and  Christian  wedlock. 

During  four  vile  years  continued  this  hell,  in  which 
virtue  and  fidelity  were  trampled  upon  by  falsehood 
and  vice.  Reconciliations  were  followed  by  partings, 
and  partings  by  curses. 

Then  rose  for  the  last  time  the  spirit  of  the  woman. 
She  left  the  brute,  her  fortune  squandered,  her  three 
children  dependent  upon  her  for  support.  She  left  him 
and  strove  during  three  years  more  to  support,  in  a 


62  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

most  unequal  struggle,  the  creatures  of  a  baleful  mar 
riage  into  which  she  had  been  deceived,  though  it  was 
contracted  with  every  degree  of  human  prudence  and 
sanctified  by  her  affections.  Her  health  impaired,  she 
found  her  children  suffering  not  only  for  the  advan 
tages  of  education,  but  also  for  the  necessities  of  exist 
ence.  Then  there  appeared  a  kindly  hearted  fellow, 
who,  seeing  that  the  law  would  afford  them  opportunity 
for  marriage,  was  never  tempted  to  improper  passion, 
either  from  his  love  or  her  misfortune.  He  proposed 
to  take  upon  him  the  burdens  of  the  other  man's  off 
spring  as  soon  as  she  should  become  divorced. 

As  usual,  the  woman  hesitated.  Consulting  the 
friends  who  had  poorly  assisted  her  in  her  poverty, 
though  they  had  been  gay  in  her  riches,  she  was  told 
by  such  of  them  as  were  happily  married  that  it  would 
be  nobler  to  suffer.  A  good  little  Catholic  priest,  not 
being  permitted  himself  to  marry,  reminded  her  that 
those  whom  God  has  joined  together  no  man  may  put 
asunder,  and  when  the  outraged  woman  asked  him  if 
it  were  possible  that  God  had  had  anything  to  do  with 
that  marriage  and  had  joined  her  innocence  to  such  a 
monster,  the  honest  father  exclaimed  that  if  things  had 
come  to  a  pass  when  she  would  question  Holy  Writ,  it 
was  high  time  for  her  to  look  to  her  soul. 

Then  she  had  a  talk  with  an  Episcopal  divine.  Di 
vorce,  he  said,  could  be  tolerated,  but  not  marriage  by 
one  divorced.  She,  on  her  side,  reminded  him  of  many 
good  women  who  seemed  to  be  both  happy  and  useful 
in  such  remarriages,  but  the  clergyman  was  clear  that 
such  unions  were  incestuous  unless,  at  the  next  general 
assembly  of  the  church,  it  should  be  voted  otherwise. 
The  balloting  had  been  very  close  at  the  last  meeting. 


A   PRIVATE    SECRETARY  63 

If  five  members  could  be  induced  to  change  their  votes, 
it  would  be  no  sin  at  all.  This  year  it  was  a  very  wicked 
thing. 

A  Presbyterian  minister  was  at  length  found  who 
believed  that  after  such  years  of  hardship  a  woman  so 
mauled  was  entitled  to  bestow  her  virtues  on  a  second 
household,  averring  it  not  improbable  that  some  injus 
tice  had  been  done  to  Scripture,  in  the  passage  so  often 
quoted,  by  making  it  too  severe.  He  felt  that  no  more 
had  been  intended  by  "no  man  put  asunder"  than  to 
forbid  men  to  divorce  wives  at  their  will,  as  in  some 
countries  they  have  ever  had  the  privilege  to  do,  "no 
man"  being  to  that  end  equivalent  to  "the  man,"  a  con 
struction  assuredly  more  reasonable  than  many  that 
are  supported  by  the  persistent  habit  of  mankind. 

At  length  becoming  divorced,  she  married  Oldworth, 
an  honest  and  successful  man,  with  whom,  to  the  great 
disappointment  of  many  good  people,  she  lived  in  peace. 
She  was  provokingly  happy,  in  point  of  fact,  for  she 
had  learned  to  know  what  a  good  man  was  worth.  She 
was  now  a  widow  by  his  death,  with  abundance  of 
wealth  ;nor  was  Heaven  apparently  displeased  with  her. 
Rejoicing  in  the  giving  of  alms,  she  would  impartially 
enough  bestow  her  money  from  time  to  time  on  the 
works  of  Catholic  as  well  as  Episcopalian  divines.  They 
accepted  her  wicked  money,  buying  with  it  perhaps  the 
wine  which  the  one  converted  into  the  blood,  the  other 
into  the  symbol  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  which  both 
refused  to  her. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
I    BEHAVE    BADLY 

ID  EFORE  I  relate  what  followed  in  the  happy  em- 
•^  ployment  I  had  fallen  into,  I  must  tell  what  I  had 
seen  of  Lillian  after  my  stay  at  Mrs.  Johnson's.  That 
painful  month  I  had  passed  almost  without  a  penny,  so 
that  my  going  to  the  theatre  was  out  of  the  question, 
nor  was  it  practicable  for  me  to  see  her  after  the  play, 
as  she  would  commonly  not  return  to  her  apartments 
until  she  had  supped  at  one  of  the  elegant  cafes.  To 
see  her  at  such  an  hour  and  place  was  beyond  both  my 
purse  and  my  situation,  for  I  felt,  without  being  told 
so,  that  I  was  expected  to  be  indoors  at  a  seasonable 
hour.  Several  times  I  had  determined  to  see  her  in 
the  afternoon,  which  was  the  time  when  I  knew  she  was 
frequently  to  be  seen,  but,  without  exception,  I  found 
her  in  company.  Without  once  having  a  word  alone 
with  her,  I  fell  more  deeply  in  love,  if  that  were  pos 
sible,  than  before. 

He  that  loves  a  beauty  generally  makes  her  a  char 
acter  to  fit  her  face.  Had  I  not  been  infatuated,  I  could 
have  seen  already,  even  with  no  greater  worldly  experi 
ence  than  I  had,  that  this  lady  was  no  angel.  But  I 
was  utterly  blind. 

Being,  upon  my  leaving  Mrs.  Johnson's,  possessed 
of  my  month's  salary,  I  first,  like  a  fool,  squandered 
several  dollars  upon  flowers,  and,  hurrying  to  the  play, 

64 


I   BEHAVE   BADLY  65 

was  again  rewarded  with  what  I  deemed  my  glance. 
I  even  tried  to  go  behind  the  scenes,  a  favour  which 
probably  my  Dulcinea  could  have  gotten  for  me,  but 
which  was  denied  me  at  every  entrance  as  a  privilege 
absolutely  against  the  rules  of  the  house.  Only  one 
thing  really  disquieted  me,  an  undue  warmth  in  the 
acting  of  Alden  during  several  love-scenes  between 
them.  Try  as  I  would,  there  was  no  way  to  see  her 
alone,  except  as  she  should  drive  others  away  from  her 
for  my  sake,  a  sacrifice  I  had  no  doubt  she  longed  to 
make  if  she  could,  but  which  she  never  imposed  upon 
herself. 

Had  I  been  able  to  see  her  frequently  enough  to  ren 
der  myself  tedious,  no  doubt  the  beauty  would  have 
put  an  end  to  this  sort  of  attention  for  her  own  sake. 
As  it  was,  she  suffered  it  to  continue,  for  players  are 
not  easily  fatigued  by  admiration,  which,  whether  they 
enjoy  it  or  not,  it  is  a  part  of  their  business,  and  a  de 
gree  of  advertisement,  to  receive. 

About  the  fourth  night  after  my  employment  by  Mrs. 
Oldworth  I  contrived,  having  a  little  money  left,  to 
follow  Lillian's  carriage  to  a  cafe  near  the  theatre, 
and,  as  if  by  accident,  to  saunter  through  the  place  as 
one  casually  dropping  in  for  oysters  and  coffee.  She 
was  seated,  as  luck  would  have  it,  without  an  escort 
other  than  one  of  the  women  of  her  company,  so,  pre 
tending  to  be  surprised  at  falling  in  with  her,  I  turned 
to  her  table  at  once. 

"What  a  gay  fellow  you  are !"  she  exclaimed.  "Do 
you  never  go  to  bed  ?" 

"Good  heavens!"  I  replied.  "I  hope,  Miss  Lillian, 
you  don't  expect  us  fellows  to  go  to  bed  with  the  chick 
ens  ?  The  evening  has  just  begun." 


66  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

"It  certainly  has  for  me,"  said  she,  with  a  meaning 
look  that  delighted  me. 

Then  I  ordered  supper,  fool  that  I  was.  It  was  one 
of  the  most  expensive  restaurants  in  the  city,  a  spacious 
as  well  as  gilded  hall,  where  the  tables  were,  with  much 
waste  of  space,  set  far  apart  in  order  that  people  of 
fashion  might  hate  each  other  in  comfort.  Before  I 
had  given  the  orders,  Alden,  to  my  intense  vexation, 
joined  us  in  a  manner  that  plainly  showed  me  he  was 
neither  unexpected  nor  unwelcome. 

My  guests  vowed  they  wanted  only  a  bite.  None  of 
them  cared  for  food  at  that  time  of  night,  so  a  few 
spoonfuls  of  soup  with  a  salad  would  do  unless,  to  be 
sure,  I  was  about  to  eat  something  substantial  myself, 
in  which  event  they  could  be  persuaded  not  to  desert 
me. 

"Well,  we  must  do  better  than  soup  and  salad,"  I 
cried.  "Let  us  look  over  this  bill-of-fare." 

"Oh,  the  long  thing,"  replied  Lillian.  "I  never  look 
at  it;  it  confuses  me  worse  than  a  dictionary  or  en 
cyclopedia;  just  choose  what  you  like,  Mr.  Cameron." 

By  this  time  it  began  to  confuse  me  too  abominably, 
for  the  figures  opposite  the  dishes  filled  me  with  terror, 
and  to  say  that  I  was  helpless  is  to  express  mildly  what 
I  felt.  Then  the  waiter,  as  is  usual  in  the  hesitation  of 
selection,  began  to  make  suggestions  that  I  perceived 
were  costing  me  full  half  a  dollar  a  word,  since  he  did 
not  leave  off  until  he  had  forced  me  to  order  two  can 
vas-back  ducks,  besides  the  soup  and  salad,  oysters  to 
begin  with  and  cheese  to  conclude.  To  all  this  was 
added  a  bottle  of  wine.  The  bill  would,  it  was  clear, 
exceed  my  purse. 

Any  enjoyment  of  the  meal  was  now  beyond  me. 


I    BEHAVE    BADLY  67 

Lillian,  for  her  part,  appeared  quite  ignorant  of  my 
state  of  mind,  but  I  fancied  that  it  was  plain  enough  to 
Alden  and  that  he  had  maliciously  increased  the  num 
ber  of  dishes,  a  conclusion  that  rendered  all  the  more 
provoking  many  little  compliments  he  graciously  paid 
me  while  regaling  himself  with  the  birds  and  cham 
pagne. 

Mellow  with  liquor,  he  and  Lillian  exchanged  many 
pleasantries.  The  fellow  was,  I  imagined,  conceited 
enough  to  fancy  he  stood  well  with  her,  so  I  detested 
him  thoroughly  with  increasing  irritation,  the  more  so 
from  a  large  glass  of  wine  to  which  I  was  little  accus 
tomed. 

"Upon  my  word,  Mr.  Cameron,"  he  exclaimed,  "you 
are  making  us  very  happy  with  this  little  supper,  but, 
I  assure  you,  what  we  enjoy  most  is  the  wit  and  con 
versation  with  which  you  have  enlivened  it." 

This  being  too  far  from  truth  to  be  other  than  irony, 
as  I  had  scarcely  said  half  a  dozen  words  up  to  that 
moment,  I  suffered,  between  jealousy  and  impecunios- 
ity,  an  unhappy  loss  of  temper. 

"Mr.  Alden,"  I  replied,  "you  need  not  complete  with 
a  sarcasm  the  general  unpleasantness  of  your  attitude 
toward  me  this  evening." 

I  could  have  cut  my  tongue  out  the  moment  I  said 
this,  for  it  is  easy  to  imagine  the  situation  that  fol 
lowed.  For  a  minute  nothing  was  said  by  any  one,  as 
they  looked  at  each  other  in  astonishment.  Then  Alden 
replied  with  an  indifference,  which,  as  it  gave  me  no 
cause  for  anger  and  left  me  no  justification  by  way  of 
relation,  as  lawyers  say,  put  me  in  a  place  where  I  had 
to  remain  in  vexation,  in  order  to  have  any  apparent 
reason  for  the  vexation  with  which  I  began. 


68  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

"Really,  Mr.  Cameron/'  said  he,  "I  thought  I  had 
been  extremely  civil  this  evening." 

"Civil !"  I  cried.  "I  do  not  care  for  condescension, 
Mr.  Alden." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  my  dear  young  man,"  he  began. 

"I  am  no  boy,  sir,"  I  said  hotly,  furious  that  he 
would  give  no  cause  for  anger,  ashamed  of  myself,  and 
determined  to  be  injured. 

"Miss  Lillian,"  he  said,  ignoring  me,  "I  trust  you 
will  excuse  me  if  I  withdraw  from  this  cheerful  party. 
As  to  you,  Mr.  Cameron,  you  will  pardon  my  not  car 
ing  to  make  a  scene." 

"You  never  do  on  the  stage,"  I  retorted,  with  gross 
ill  manners,  but  with  great  success  in  wounding  him. 

He  rose  hastily  with  an  angry  look  and  left  us 
abruptly. 

During  this  agreeable  colloquy  my  fair  guests, 
though  evidently  annoyed  at  my  bad  behaviour,  had  sat 
in  silence,  and  as  Alden  had  had  a  manifest  victory  over 
me  in  politeness,  I  saw  that  they  were  approving  him 
as  much  as  they  condemned  me.  Indeed,  it  was  quite 
plain  that  Lillian  herself  was  out  of  humour. 

They  finished  the  meal  with  much  loss  of  appetite, 
declared  they  must  hurry  home,  and  did  not  oblige  me 
with  more  than  a  cold  remark  or  two  between  three  or 
four  morsels  after  his  departure.  Then  came  the  final 
misery  of  the  evening.  Calling  for  the  account,  I  found 
I  had  not  enough  to  pay  it.  Affecting  great  surprise 
at  the  small  sum  I  had  with  me,  I  tried  to  treat  the  mat 
ter  gaily ;  so,  excusing  myself  from  the  table,  I  hurried 
to  the  cashier  and  contrived,  with  much  humiliation,  to 
get  a  credit  until  morning. 

Treated  with  contempt  by  the  waiter  and  with  cold- 


I    BEHAVE    BADLY  69 

ness  by  the  ladies,  I  finally  separated  from  them  at  their 
carriage,  relieved  to  hide  my  shame  in  my  lodgings, 
where,  bitterly  upbraiding  myself  for  jealousy,  extrava 
gance  and  pride,  I  lay  awake  until  dawn. 

Nor  did  I  fail  to  curse  the  gluttony  of  fashionable 
life,  reflecting  that  while  few  foods  are  pure  enough  for 
cattle,  none  seem  too  vile  for  man. 


CHAPTER  XV 
CLOSER   ACQUAINTANCES 

T^HE  virtues  of  those  we  hate  displease  us  more  than 
their  vices.  I  was  furious  at  Alden's  behaviour 
because  it  had  been  so  good,  for  this,  it  was  clear,  would 
commend  him  in  the  very  quarter  where  I  desired  to 
see  him  degraded. 

Ashamed  to  present  myself  with  explanation,  I  now 
dispatched  a  note  full  of  apologies  to  Lillian,  only  to 
receive  a  reply  in  which  the  lady,  while  she  expressed 
the  utmost  forgiveness,  begged  that  I  see  her  for  the 
present  no  more.  Laying  aside  the  coquette,  she  would, 
she  said,  be  candid.  If,  by  my  attentions,  I  had  hon 
oured  her  even  to  myself  with  hopes  of  a  more  intimate 
relation  and  the  honour  of  my  name,  it  was,  she  grieved 
to  say,  a  consummation  impossible.  Reasons  not  to  be 
disclosed  made  it  quite  out  of  her  power  to  consider 
me  other  than  friend.  But  friend  I  could  be,  could  I 
not?  Just  at  present  she  could  not  permit  even  that, 
but  later,  when  my  mind  should  be  more  composed,  I 
should  see  her  as  a  friend. 

Beside  myself  at  all  this,  I  went  twice  to  her  apart 
ments  at  an  hour  when  I  was  sure  she  was  in,  but  re 
ceived  word  from  the  servants  that  she  desired  to  be 
excused.  Still  I  would  not  desist.  I  wrote  again.  I 
sent  flowers.  I  humbled  my  pride  in  abject  appeals. 

70 


CLOSER   ACQUAINTANCES         71 

Obdurate  she  remained,  however,  until  both  spirit  and 
reason  told  me  to  importune  her  no  longer.  But  what 
was  her  reason?  This  tormented  me  as  much  as  the 
loss  itself. 

No  pain  is  equal  to  that  of  a  lover  in  the  first  despair. 
My  appetite  fell  off,  my  sleep  was  broken,  and  my  mem 
ory  ceased  to  respond  to  the  most  common  suggestions. 
Indeed,  my  gentle  employer,  observing  that  something 
was  wrong,  felt  herself  obliged  to  offer  me  such  vaca 
tion  as  I  might  require,  pointing  out  with  the  utmost 
kindness  many  ways  in  which  I  could  get  rest  and  di 
version.  I  longed  to  give  her  my  confidence,  but  the 
vanity  of  man  is  too  great  to  get  sympathy  by  confess 
ing  rejected  love,  nor  will  any  but  the  weakest  volun 
tarily  give  the  secret  to  another  ear  than  the  one  that 
has  received  it  in  vain. 

The  butler  in  this  house,  it  so  happened,  was  the  one 
who  had  been  in  service  at  Mrs.  Johnson's  during  my 
late  fast ;  so  the  fellow,  making  bold  to  have  an  occa 
sional  word  with  me  in  the  room  which  I  used  as  a  sort 
of  office,  expressed  a  fear  that  I  had  not  quite  recovered 
from  the  poor  fare  she  had  served  me.  Evidently  out 
of  humour  with  Mrs.  Johnson,  he  explained  that  he 
had  left  her  because  of  a  fit  of  her  ill  temper. 

"You  have  my  word  for  it,  sir,"  said  he,  "I  said  not 
a  thing  in  reply.  Thank  God !  I  haven't  sunk  so  low 
as  to  have  the  last  word  in  an  argument  with  any  lady 
or  gentleman.  A  lady  may  curse  me  as  much  as  she 
pleases.  I  never  forget  my  profession,  sir,  which  has 
been  a  great  art  to  me  these  thirty  years.  Now,  in  this 
house,  one  can  see  for  oneself.  Mentioning  no  names, 
there  is  a  great  difference  in  people,  sir.  When  a  man 
has  had  to  degrade  himself  by  serving  people  no  better 


72  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

than  himself,  it  is  a  great  relief  to  be  in  good  society 
again." 

This  creature,  having  conceived  a  regard  for  me,  was 
especially  solicitous  to  advance  me  with  Betty,  whose 
sudden  interest  in  Mrs.  Johnson  had  not  deceived  him. 
He  had  never  failed  to  give  me  a  hint  of  her  coming, 
a  service  I  am  sure  he  had  always  done  Betty  in  respect 
to  me  with  the  infinite  tact  of  a  trained  servant.  He 
now,  as  if  by  chance,  observed  that  Miss  Betty  was 
below ;  adding,  if  a  person  in  his  position  might  be  per 
mitted  respectfully  to  say  so,  that  there  wasn't  another 
young  gentlewoman  on  the  Avenue  fit  to  be  mentioned 
the  same  breath  with  her. 

Little  interested  though  I  was,  I  felt  it  pleasant  to 
see  Betty  again.  When  I  greeted  her  I  expressed  pleas 
ure  that  she  was  among  Mrs.  Oldworth's  friends, 
whereupon  Betty,  though  she  had  probably  not  been  in 
the  house  within  a  year,  declared  she  had  always  felt 
for  this  lady  a  positive  devotion.  From  this  time  I 
continued  to  see  more  of  her  than  ever.  Mrs.  Old- 
worth,  for  her  part,  viewed  the  little  affair  with  much 
indulgence,  though  she  could  not  have  been  blind  to 
Betty's  feelings  towards  me  and  the  worldly  disadvan 
tages  of  her  entanglement. 

This  amiable,  vivacious  and  comely  girl,  who  now 
began  to  betray  her  affection  for  me,  was  not  without 
some  difficulty  in  so  pleasant  a  business,  and  if  my 
heart  had  not  been  so  absorbed  by  the  beautiful  actress, 
there  was  everything  in  Betty's  situation  to  excite  my 
regard.  To  begin  with,  there  was  the  opposition  of 
parents,  always  a  stimulant  to  love.  I  had  not  made 
three  visits  to  her  home,  while  at  Mrs.  Johnson's,  be 
fore  I  felt  that  I  was  wanted  there  by  neither  father 


CLOSER   ACQUAINTANCES         73 

nor  mother,  between  whom  indeed  it  would  have  been 
hard  to  decide  in  point  of  coolness.  This,  Betty  en 
deavoured  to  conceal  from  me,  admitting  it  reluctantly 
when  at  last  I  declined  to  visit  her  more.  In  conse 
quence  of  my  not  going  to  her  house,  she  was  forced  to 
come  to  mine,  a  practice  that  exhausted  all  her  tact  in 
preserving  her  dignity.  A  favourite  expedient  was  a 
walk  in  the  park  on  fine  days,  of  which  that  winter  we 
had  a  good  many,  with  skating  besides. 

She  now  came  to  Mrs.  Oldworth's  with  much  fre 
quency.  Had  Mrs.  Oldworth  seen  this  delightful  new 
novel  ?  Or,  would  Mrs.  Oldworth  lend  her  those  pretty 
designs  in  embroidery?  She  scarcely  knew  what  to  do 
without  Mrs.  Oldworth's  advice,  whether  drinking  cof 
fee  shortened  one's  life  or  drinking  water  would  give 
one  early  wrinkles. 

Being  a  girl  of  real  dignity,  Betty  was  not  without 
some  scruples  in  deceiving,  in  a  measure,  her  parents, 
though  it  was  rarely  necessary  to  make  them  any  ex 
planations  wholly  untrue.  She  quieted  her  conscience 
for  some  small  evasions,  however,  saw  me  as  often  as 
she  modestly  could,  and  revelled  in  the  hopes  of  suc 
cessful  love.  For  my  own  part,  my  mind  was  at  ease 
as  to  any  duty  in  the  matter,  for  I  had  not  the  slightest 
designs  upon  her  hand,  and  was  not  yet  aware  that 
already  I  possessed  her  heart. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
BETTY'S    ARGUMENT 

'THOUGH  Betty's  mother  gave  little  attention  to  so- 
*  cial  matters,  she  was  not  without  worldly  sense, 
and,  while  she  liked  the  company  her  daughter  was  in 
at  the  Oldworths',  she  could  not  fail  to  observe,  during 
her  own  intercourse  with  that  family,  that  Betty  saw 
me  a  great  deal.  One  day,  while  driving  through  the 
park,  she  happened  to  come  upon  us  there,  a  circum 
stance  which  set  her  thinking  in  a  very  serious  way 
about  the  possibility  of  an  alliance  by  no  means  advan 
tageous.  Accordingly,  the  very  next  day  she  fell  to 
questioning  her  daughter  on  this  most  embarrassing 
subject. 

''Betty,"  she  asked,  "was  that  Mr.  Cameron  I  saw 
you  with  in  the  park  yesterday  ?" 

"I  believe  it  was." 

"You  believe  it  was?" 

"Why,  yes,  mamma,  of  course.  I  was  not  paying 
close  attention  to  what  you  were  saying.  Yes,  Mr. 
Cameron." 

"Why  doesn't  this  young  man  come  to  our  house?" 

"Why  should  he  come,  mamma?" 

"Why  should  he  not  come  ?"  retorted  the  mother. 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know,  mamma,  why  he  should 
not." 

74 


BETTY'S   ARGUMENT  75 

"Do  you  mean  to  say,  Betty,  that  you  never  asked 
him?"  " 

"Never  asked  him?" 

"Yes,  I  say,  never  asked  him,"  repeated  the  mother, 
with  growing  impatience. 

"Why  should  I  ask  him  ?"  inquired  Betty,  guarding 
her  secret  with  all  the  desperation  of  a  maiden. 

"Why  should  you  not  ask  him  ?"  cried  the  mother. 

"Do  you  wish  me  to  ask  him,  mamma  ?" 

"No,  I  do  not!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Sinclair,  exasper 
ated  to  have  made  so  little  progress. 

"Then  why  should  I  ask  him  to  come?"  replied  the 
daughter. 

"This  thing  is  putting  me  out  of  temper,"  said  the 
mother.  "You  know,  Betty,  just  as  well  as  I  do,  what 
I  mean.  Why  is  it  that  a  young  man  you  see  so  often, 
if  he  had  a  right  to  see  you  at  all,  may  walk  with  you 
in  the  park  and  never  come  to  your  home  ?" 

"You  never  told  me  not  to  walk  in  the  park  with 
him." 

"I  never  gave  you  any  advice  about  him  at  all,"  re 
sponded  the  mother. 

"Then  why  shouldn't  I  walk  with  him?" 

"Now,  Betty,  I'll  have  to  ask  you  to  be  less  smart 
in  this  conversation." 

"Why,  mamma,  what  do  you  mean  by  being  so  out 
of  humour  with  me  ?" 

"Betty,  I  am  trying  to  control  myself.  Beware,  now. 
Is  this  young  fellow  in  love  with  you  ?" 

"He  never  told  me  so,  mamma;  and  I'm  sure  I  never 
asked  him." 

"Do  you  see  him  often  ?" 

"No?  not  very." 


76  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"You  saw  him  yesterday.  Did  you  see  him  the  day 
before?" 

"I  believe  so." 

"Did  you  see  him  the  day  before  that?" 

"Maybe  so.  I'm  not  sure.  I  can't  remember  every 
little  thing,  mamma." 

"How  did  he  come  to  work  at  Oldworth's  ?" 

"I  don't  know  that  he  works  there  at  all,  mamma. 
Mrs.  Oldworth  has  had  him  as  secretary  for  some  time 
— I'm  sure  I  don't  know  just  how  long.  I'm  not  sup 
posed  to  know  everything  about  him.  Mamma,  what 
do  you  mean  by  cross-examining  me  in  this  way  ?  What 
terrible  thing  have  I  ever  done  that  I  should  be  put  on 
the  witness-stand  ?  And  as  for  Mr.  Cameron,  I'm  sure 
he  comes  of  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  the  State,  for 
his  mother  was  a  Van  Ruyn,  and  his  uncle  at  Albany 
everybody  knows,  and  he  has  been  splendidly  edu 
cated." 

"You  seem  to  know  more  about  him  than  I  thought," 
the  mother  said. 

"Now,  mamma;  there  you  are,  contradicting  me 
again,"  cried  Betty,  driven  at  last  to  her  only  escape, 
a  flood  of  tears. 

"What  do  these  penniless  young  fellows  mean  by 
this  sort  of  thing?"  cried  Mrs.  Sinclair,  in  a  bad  tem 
per  indeed. 

"I  don't  know  and  I  don't  care,"  replied  Betty,  "for 
it's  nobody's  business  but  his  own  what  he  does,  and 
he  can  go  or  stay  where  he  pleases,  so  far  as  I  care, 
except  that  he's  a  perfect  gentleman,  and  all  the  ladies 
in  our  circle  say  so,  and  he's  infinitely  superior " 

Here  there  came  another  burst  of  tears,  for  the  poor 
girl,  afraid  of  having  betrayed  her  secret,  too  proud  of 


BETTY'S   ARGUMENT  77 

the  man  she  loved  to  let  him  be  undefended,  and  at  the 
same  time  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  being  taken  away 
from  him,  could  find  no  other  resource  than  a  spasm 
of  weeping.  The  mother,  for  her  part,  had  the  sense  to 
leave  her,  but  naturally  began  at  once  to  make  some 
plans  of  her  own.  What  the  good  lady  resolved  on 
was  to  make  no  further  comment,  but  within  a  fort 
night  to  take  the  young  woman  to  Europe  upon  no 
more  notice  than  a  day  or  two,  with  which  in  view  she 
immediately  and  successfully  consulted  her  husband. 

In  the  midst  of  this  I  received  one  day  a  note  from 
Maria  Dole,  requesting  me  to  see  her  at  a  hotel  im 
mediately,  repairing  to  which  place,  with  much  curios 
ity,  I  was  conducted  to*  the  old  devil's  room.  After 
some  commonplaces  she  came  to  her  subject. 

"I  suppose  you  know,  Mr.  Cameron,"  she  began, 
with  her  icy  smile,  "that  you  are  your  uncle's  heir?" 

"I  don't  know  it,  Mrs.  Dole,"  I  replied,  "and  really 
don't  think  much  about  it." 

"Well,  young  man,  I  won't  flatter  you  by  pretending 
to  believe  you,  for  I  shall  simply  rely  on  your  protect 
ing  yourself  as  a  man  of  business  after  what  I  am 
going  to  say." 

Here  she  paused  until  I  could  not  refrain  from  ask 
ing  her  to  proceed. 

"Mr.  Cameron,  if  you  don't  interfere  there'll  either 
be  no  fortune  of  your  uncle's  to  inherit,  or  somebody 
else  will  get  all  that  she  doesn't  squander  for  him  in 
his  lifetime." 

I  said  nothing;  so  she  went  on. 

"There's  a  play  actress  in  this  town,  and  you  know 
her.  Your  uncle's  lost  his  head  over  her;  she's  fasci- 


78  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

nated  him  like  a  snake.  It's  your  money  she's  consum 
ing.  Can't  you  stop  it  ?  Have  you  no  spirit  ?" 

"Mrs.  Dole,"  I  replied,  "if  my  uncle  wishes  to 
marry " 

"Marry?"  she  cried,  springing  to  her  feet  and  then 
dropping  back  into  the  chair,  white  with  rage.  "Marry ! 
Well,  maybe  he's  fool  enough  for  that."  Then,  fresh 
malice  coming  into  her  heart,  she  added,  "But  maybe 
he'll  not  find  that  necessary,  with  that  kind  of  woman." 

"You  old  hag!"  I  exclaimed,  "stop,  or  I'll  threw  you 
out  of  the  window." 

With  this  I  left  the  room,  wondering  later  which  of 
these  ladies  was  to  have  the  pleasure  of  spending  my 
money. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
TRIXY    GORDON   APPEARS. 

HP  HE  studies  of  youth  become  a  part  of  our  minds, 
A  while  those  of  age  serve  only  to  embellish  them. 
In  my  depression  over  the  loss  of  Lillian  I  now,  in 
every  leisure  moment,  applied  myself  to  books,  and,  as 
I  had  no  exacting  employment,  I  was  able  to  make 
good  use  of  the  excellent  library  of  the  Oldworths. 
Two  months  passing  in  this  way,  I  acquired  by  degrees 
considerable  composure.  Affection  by  no  means  ex 
pelled  from  my  breast  was  at  least  under  my  control, 
and  after  a  while  her  face  ceased  to  come  between  my 
eyes  and  the  printed  page.  No  doubt  I  should,  after 
the  manner  of  youth,  have  made  even  a  speedier  con 
quest  of  these  emotions,  if  nearly  every  newspaper  or 
magazine  had  not  contained  her  praises,  if  the  com 
pany  into  which  I  was  thrown  had  not  continually  dis 
cussed  her,  and  if  the  windows  and  billboards  had  not 
exhibited  her  charms. 

While  I  was  in  this  condition  the  month  of  April 
came  round,  bringing  some  new  people  upon  the  scene, 
people  of  whom  I  had  heard  a  good  deal  during  the 
winter,  but  had  seen  nothing.  These  were  a  sister  of 
the  deceased  Oldworth  and  the  husband  of  that  sister, 
a  couple  with  more  money  than  common  sense,  and  ad 
mirably  fitted  to  make  trouble  for  themselves,  as  well 

79 


8o  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

as  everybody  else,  wherever  they  might  happen  to  go. 
They  had  just  returned  from  Florida. 

The  woman's  name  was  Trixy,  the  husband's  Rich 
ard,  but  in  fashionable  circles  they  were  generally 
known  as  the  "Trixy  Gordons,"  from  the  superior  folly 
of  the  wife.  That  lady  was  one  of  those  frivolous 
spouses  who  can  giggle  or  weep  with  equal  ease  and 
with  equally  little  reason.  Indefatigably  busy  in  all 
affairs  of  fashion,  she  had  a  social  position  that  made 
even  wise  people,  who  really  did  not  care  to  know  her, 
desire  every  one  else  to  believe  they  knew  her  well,  and, 
being  spoiled  by  all,  including  her  husband,  she  was 
always  sure  to  have  her  own  way.  Nobody  had  yet 
caught  her  in  anything  scandalous,  but  there  was  a  gen 
eral  hope  that  the  worst  would  happen.  Her  beauty 
was  of  a  sort  that  made  all  the  other  women  distrust 
her  with  their  husbands,  nor  was  there  any  one  of  these 
within  her  circle  who  had  not  some  time  or  other  been 
upon  oath  to  his  wife  that  the  little  fool  bored  him. 

Trixy  was  then  about  twenty-five,  of  medium  height, 
girlish  figure  and  a  somewhat  saucy  expression,  which 
is  very  pleasing  in  a  maiden,  but  in  a  matron  liable  to 
suggest  naughty  things,  for  you  could  see  at  a  glance 
that  there  was  nothing  in  her  head,  that  she  must  con 
stantly  find  amusement  or  excitement,  that,  towards 
the  close  of  a  weary  day,  it  was  best  for  her  health  to 
have  something  sparkling  to  drink,  and  that,  upon  ad 
vice  of  a  physician,  she  always  slept  best  after  a  bird 
and  a  bottle. 

But  nothing  could  exceed  the  innocent  demeanour  of 
this  harmless  person,  who  could,  even  under  the  most 
dubious  circumstances,  defy  conviction  with  a  babelike 
expression  superior  to  that  of  any  of  the  ox-eyed  queens 


TRIXY    GORDON   APPEARS.        81 

of  Homer.  To  this  she  added  no  small  art  in  compli 
menting  the  women  themselves,  the  most  suspicious  of 
whom  were  sure  to  remark,  having  had  a  chat  with  her, 
that,  after  all,  Trixy  meant  well  and  was  an  enemy  to 
nobody  but  herself.  Her  innocence  appeared  height 
ened  by  that  practice  of  exaggeration  in  which  our 
women  too  much  indulge  and  which  was  carried  by  her 
to  such  a  degree  that,  until  one  knew  her  well,  it  was 
impossible  to  estimate  what  number  or  quantity  or  ex 
treme  she  actually  had  in  mind,  for  with  her  whatever 
was  good  was  perfectly  delightful,  whatever  was  bad 
was  absolutely  horrible,  and  in  describing  numbers  she 
had  no  unit  less  than  a  million.  After  some  experi 
ence  you  could  reckon  a  little  on  the  degree  she  in 
tended  by  noting,  as  in  the  Chinese  tongue,  the  varie 
ties  of  stress,  accent,  and  inflection. 

Equally  a  fool  was  the  husband,  who  instantly  sug 
gested  to  you  that  line  of  Pope's,  "when  husbands  or 
when  lap-dogs  breathe  their  last."  Utterly  without 
anything  to  do,  except  to  spend  an  ample  income,  this 
insipid  fellow  passed  his  time  in  the  invention  of  trifling 
or  singular  amusements,  eccentricities  of  dress,  yachts, 
dogs,  horses.  Then  he  would  affect  wits  and  the  arts ; 
then  have  a  fever  for  business  and  men  of  affairs.  In 
short,  he  could  be  described  only  by  the  other  great 
satirist — 

"Blest  madman  who  could  every  hour  employ 
With  something  new  to  wish  and  to  enjoy." 

The  pair  managed,  however,  to  get  on  without  quar 
rels,  since  each  was  willing  to  let  the  other  alone,  and, 
there  being,  as  the  saying  is,  no  love  lost  between  them, 
neither  was  so  far  bent  on  having  the  other's  company 


82  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

as  to  find  fault  with  the  whims  or  amusements  that  fre 
quently  kept  them  apart. 

This  pretty  couple  I  have  described  at  some  length, 
because  I  was  very  soon  in  their  affairs  to  my  great 
pleasure,  profit,  and  ultimate  mortification. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
AN   UNPLEASANT    MEETING 

JVA  EANWHILE  my  mind  ran  considerably  on  my 
*  *  *  uncle's  fortune,  which  I  might  have  been  more 
indifferent  to,  if  I  had  not  been  sure  that  either  one 
woman  or  the  other  was  conspiring  to  keep  me  out  of 
it.  I  say  both,  for  there  were  many  circumstances 
against  Lillian,  generous  and  amiable  though  she  was. 
As  for  Maria  Dole,  her  remark  about  my  being  my 
uncle's  heir  was  plainly  a  lie  to  stimulate  me  to  save  the 
fortune  from  Lillian,  so  that  Maria  could  steal  it  her 
self. 

Pretty  curious,  as  may  be  imagined,  I  was  glad  to 
stumble  on  my  uncle  one  evening  in  the  lobby  of  a  fash 
ionable  hotel.  At  first  he  was  about  to  pass  me  with  a 
cool  nod,  but,  changing  his  mind,  requested  me  to  step 
aside  near  a  window,  as  he  had  a  word  to  say  to  me. 

"Young  man,"  he  said,  "it  occurs  to  me  to  give  you 
a  bit  of  advice.  Just  let  my  affairs  alone,  will  you?  I 
believe  I  don't  meddle  in  yours." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  I  exclaimed.    "I " 

"Now,  don't  make  a  scene,  my  young  Adonis,"  he 
continued,  with  a  sneer.  "I  have  said  all  I  have  to  say. 
As  for  anything  I  have  in  this  world,  just  drop  your 
expectations.  Not  one  penny  of  mine  will  ever  go 
to  you." 

83 


84  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

He  turned  aside,  but  not  until  I  had  recovered 
enough  composure  to  resolve  on  treating  him  as  caus 
tically  as  he  had  treated  me. 

"Oh,"  said  I,  with  a  smile,  "you'll  see  me  dead,  for 
that  matter,  a  half  a  century.  You've  got  what  Fon- 
tenelle  called  the  recipe  for  a  green  old  age — a  sound 
body  and  a  selfish  heart. 

"You're  very  classic,  you  young  adventurer,  with 
your  Fontenelles  and  your  smoothly  rounded  periods. 
I  suppose  you've  been  carrying  that  one  about  with  you 
a  month,  looking  for  a  chance  to  shoot  it  off.  But,  re 
member  what  I  say.  Let  my  affairs  alone." 

Thus  I  was  glad  to  part  company  with  him,  and  I 
must  now  recur  to  some  relations  of  mine  with  Mrs. 
Gordon. 

The  fair  Trixy,  having  her  house  near  by,  met  me 
almost  immediately  on  her  arrival,  introduced  by  Mrs. 
Oldworth  with  no  more  point  made  of  it  than  became 
my  situation.  With  my  mind  on  other  things,  I  gave 
the  lady  a  respectful  bow,  said  something  polite,  ancl 
expected  only  her  casual  good  nature. 

Such,  however,  was  not  to  be  the  end  of  our  ac 
quaintance.  Quick  as  was  her  first  glance,  it  disclosed 
that  she  thought  me  not  entirely  beneath  her  notice, 
and,  as  she  had  occasion  to  be  in  the  house  almost  daily, 
I  was  favoured  with  a  very  pleasant  look  every  time  we 
met.  To  this  I  paid  no  more  attention  than,  feeling 
grateful  for  it,  to  give  it  a  pleasant  return.  Nor  was  I 
conceited  enough  to  deem  significant  what  was  done  by 
her  in  the  most  candid  and  artless  manner  imaginable. 

Within  a  week  she  had  occasion  to  chat  with  me 
about  some  trifle,  pretty  soon  desired  information  about 
a  bit  of  business,  and  finally  declared  to  Mrs.  Oldworth 


AN   UNPLEASANT   MEETING       85 

that  I  could  be  very  useful  to  the  Gordons  upon  occa 
sion  if  I  could  only  be  permitted  now  and  then  to  do 
them  a  turn.  This  being  quite  satisfactory  to  my  em 
ployer,  I  soon  found  myself  consulted  on  a  number  of 
things  of  small  consequence,  the  balancing  of  her  bank 
account,  a  quarrel  over  a  milliner's  bill,  the  purchase 
of  a  horse,  and  the  curing  of  a  sick  dog,  all  which  mat 
ters  were  such,  she  explained,  as  ladies  cared  to  discuss 
only  with  very  discreet  persons,  friends  of  the  family. 

Frivolous  as  this  dame  was,  she  had  sufficient  sense 
of  the  difference  in  our  stations  to  let  herself  down  to 
mine  by  degrees.  For  my  own  part,  I  was  slow  to  see 
in  her  behaviour  anything  but  what  was  proper  enough, 
and  I  bore  myself  towards  her  not  indifferently,  but 
with  nothing  more  than  respectful  friendliness. 

I  had  yet  to  learn  that  spoiled  beauties  often  have 
headstrong  fancies,  which  are  never  more  unreason 
able  than  when  the  object  is  both  improper  and  unwill 
ing.  The  very  indifference  she  perceived  in  me  being 
something  new,  was  something  to  be  conquered.  Add 
to  this  the  fact  that  she  considered  me  handsome. 

It  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  people  I  was  among 
knew  my  family  to  be  an  old  one  in  the  State,  and  that 
I  was  entitled  to  all  the  courtesies  of  a  gentleman,  which 
being  so,  it  was  not  difficult  to  the  simple  Trixy  to  bring 
me  into  many  small  parties.  These  by  degrees  became 
more  frequent,  until,  one  night  at  the  close  of  the  opera 
season,  I  was  invited  to  a  seat  in  the  family  box.  I  had 
by  this  time  received  some  increase  in  salary,  was  no 
longer  sending  flowers  to  a  goddess  behind  the  foot 
lights,  and  was  sufficiently  clothed  for  such  occasions. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
A    NAUGHTY    EVENING 

'"FHE  opera  was  Tannhduscr,  in  which  the  genius  of 
*  song  first  declared  its  emancipation  from  the  soft 
passions  of  the  South,  and,  disdaining  the  frivolous 
measures,  along  with  the  melodious  airs  of  Italy,  cele 
brated  in  the  Northern  forests  a  marriage  of  moral 
precept  to  ravishing,  exalted  harmony.  Alone  in  the 
box  during  the  overture,  I  listened  with  enchantment 
to  strains  which,  to  use  the  language  of  Milton,  might 
create  a  soul  under  the  ribs  of  death.  I  sighed  at  the 
grief  of  Elizabeth.  I  mourned  over  the  punishment  of 
Tannhauser.  I  felt  myself  borne  above  every  earthly 
consideration  in  the  song  that  rose  to  heaven  from  the 
melancholy  soul  of  Wolfram. 

From  reflections  of  this  sort  I  was  soon  roused  by 
the  arrival  of  Mrs.  Oldworth  with  her  two  guests,  and 
afterwards  by  Trixy,  who,  coming  upon  us  during  the 
first  act,  accounted  for  her  tardiness  by  a  funeral  and 
a  card  party.  She  needed  no  excuses,  for  it  was  com 
monly  understood  that  she  came  late  to  make  a  stir 
with  her  beauty  and  her  diamonds,  a  conclusion  un 
doubtedly  as  satisfactory  to  her  as  one  more  compli 
mentary,  since  people  cannot  find  fault  without  taking 
notice. 

The  uncommon  beauty  of  this  young  leader  of  fash- 

86 


A   NAUGHTY   EVENING  87 

ion  soon  caused  the  glasses  of  half  the  house  to  turn 
towards  our  box,  so  I  shared,  and  was  young  enough 
to  enjoy,  her  prominence.  As  for  the  music,  she  vowed 
it  was  heavenly  while  studying  a  costume  in  another 
box,  and  declared  there  never  could  be  a  second  Wag 
ner  while  bowing  to  a,  friend  across  the  house. 

Conversation  now  became  common  in  the  box,  some 
one  relating  a  terrible  accident  in  which  a  player  had 
once  been  stabbed  to  death  with  a  dagger,  which,  in 
stead  of  being  an  imitation,  designed  to  fold  itself  in 
the  stroke,  had  proved  a  real  weapon  and  had  pierced 
his  heart. 

"Good  heavens !"  cried  Trixy.  "How  surprised  the 
man  must  have  been  to  be  killed  in  that  way !" 

The  opera  being  thus  robbed  of  its  illusions,  I  real 
ised  the  sneer  of  Voltaire  that,  whenever  men  find  a 
thing  too  stupid  to  be  spoken,  they  sing  it,  and  soon 
was  able  to  smile,  when  the  diva's  train,  catching  by 
accident  in  the  scenery,  dragged  about  a  field  of  forest 
and  an  impregnable  castle.  Trixy's  husband  having 
failed  to  come,  I  was  in  conversation  with  her  nearly 
all  the  evening,  and  was  told  by  her  that  I  should  ac 
company  her  to  her  home. 

The  play  being  finished,  we  repaired  for  supper  to  a 
restaurant,  where  Trixy  at  once  became  exceedingly 
gay.  The  day,  she  said,  had  been  a  great  strain  upon 
her  nerves.  She  had  really  suffered  at  the  funeral,  nor 
would  she  have  thought  of  going  to  the  thing  if  every 
body  else  had  not  been  there.  Then  she  called  for  Bern- 
casteler  Doctor,  to  drink  it  with  her  oysters. 

While  she  was  at  her  height,  and  myself  in  good 
spirits,  we  were  in  a  manner  interrupted  by  the  arrival 
of  a  party  at  the  next  table.  Looking  up,  I  was  in- 


88  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

stantly  silent.  There  was  Lillian,  every  eye  in  the  room 
upon  her,  and  dazzling  every  eye  with  her  beauty.  Not 
failing  to  perceive  me,  as  well  as  the  distinguished  little 
company  I  was  in,  she  gave  me  a  very  sweet  bow. 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  effect  of  this  interrup 
tion  upon  me.  I  had  stopped  in  the  middle  of  a  sen 
tence,  red  and  quite  disturbed.  Trixy  saw  this. 

"Do  you  know  that  woman  ?"  she  inquired. 

"Yes,"  I  replied;  "yes,  somewhat." 

"Strange  I  never  heard  you  mention  her  if  you  are 
so  intimate  as  that,"  said  she,  a  trifle  displeased. 

"I  don't  see  why  you  call  it  intimacy,"  I  replied, 
"for  I  didn't  say  that  by  any  means." 

"Well,  of  course,  you  wanted  it  to  be  intimacy,"  she 
retorted,  half  petulantly;  "it  is  always  so  between  men 
and  actresses." 

This  agreeable  colloquy  escaped  the  hearing  of  Mrs. 
Oldworth,  as  the  fair  Trixy,  by  her  own  contrivance, 
was  seated  beside  me.  However,  my  acquaintance  with 
Lillian  became  manifest  to  all  when  the  beautiful  ac 
tress,  perceiving  in  a  little  while  the  annoyance  of 
Trixy,  favoured  me  with  two  or  three  flattering  glances. 
Mrs.  Oldworth  was  satisfied  with  my  remarking  that  I 
had  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Miss  Evanson  and  re 
proved  Trixy  for  saying  that  the  actress  was  behaving 
with  shocking  rudeness. 

You  may  imagine  that  by  this  time  I  was  not  a  little 
puzzled  at  Trixy's  behaviour,  which,  however,  did  not 
fill  my  mind  entirely,  because  I  could  hardly  take  my 
eyes  off  Lillian.  Finally  we  left  the  room.  Bidding 
the  others  good-night,  I  got  into  the  pretty  Gordon's 
carriage,  where  my  first  remarks  were  received  in  si 
lence. 


A   NAUGHTY   EVENING  89 

"I  hope,  Mrs.  Gordon,"  I  began,  "that  nothing  I 
have  done  has  given  offence." 

"Was  ever  a  lady  so  rudely  treated  by  her  escort  as 
I,"  replied  she,  "subjected  to  a  flirtation  from  one  table 
to  another?" 

"Upon  my  word,  Mrs.  Gordon,"  I  exclaimed,  "you 
do  me  an  injustice,  and  Miss  Evanson,  too." 

"Don't  defend  that  woman  to  me,"  cried  the  lady ; 
"you  may  be  as  much  in  love  with  her  as  you  please, 
though  little  good  that  will  do  you,  from  what  the 
whole  town  knows  about  her  and  Harry  Alden." 

"But,  Mrs.  Gordon " 

"There,  you  don't  deny  it,"  she  went  on.  "Now 
admit  it,  you  are  slavishly,  head  and  heels  in  love  with 
Lillian  Evanson." 

Of  course  I  denied,  of  course  she  reiterated,  the 
charge.  Finally,  it  becoming  my  turn  to  be  hurt,  I 
declared  it  was  easy  for  me  to  rid  her  of  my  company, 
if  she  so  preferred,  as  well  as  to  spare  her  in  that  re 
spect  for  the  future.  This  finally  succeeding,  she  pro 
tested  that  no  woman  on  earth  was  so  loyal  as  herself 
in  friendship,  which  in  fact  she  could  with  difficulty 
avoid  calling  by  a  tenderer  name.  This  afforded  me 
an  opportunity  to  take  her  hand.  I  vowed  that  with 
me,  friendship  was  equally  supreme.  Life  was  not 
worth  living  without  friendship,  and  where  could 
friendship  be  so  pure,  so  elevating,  as  between  man 
and  woman  ?  Where  so  refined  as  between  a  lady  and 
a  gentleman?  Where  so  natural  as  between  her  and 
me? 

To  all  this,  Trixy  assented  without  withdrawing  her 
hand.  What  she  needed  was  somebody  she  could  safely 
trust.  Her  nature  was  confiding.  Upon  me  she  felt 


90  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

she  could  lean.  Her  husband,  with  his  thousand  amuse 
ments,  had  left  a  great  loneliness  in  her  heart,  which 
yearned  for  sympathy.  She  felt  better  now. 

It  is  quite  plain  that  the  least  a  gentleman  can  do 
for  a  suffering  lady  under  these  circumstances  is  to 
give  her  a  kiss,  but  such  was  my  fear  of  making  a  mis 
take  where  I  had  so  much  to  lose,  that  I  remained  a 
very  cool  Adonis  to  the  last,  pressing  her  hand,  though 
with  warmth  enough  to  show  her  that  she  had  found 
that  pure,  sweet,  pastoral  friendship  she  had  so  long 
been  seeking. 

By  this  time  we  were  at  her  house,  and  the  footman 
at  the  carriage  door.  I  bade  her  good-night,  but  per 
ceived  in  her  voice  that  all  was  not  satisfactory,  and 
that  sympathy  has  a  great  thirst.  Such  proved  the 
case,  for  I  had  walked  scarcely  half  a  dozen  steps  away 
when  I  found  myself  gently  recalled  and  requested  to 
come  in  for  a  moment  or  two,  to  hear  something  she 
desired  particularly  to  say. 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  was  now  about  one 
o'clock,  a  pretty  hour  for  me  to  be  taken  indoors  by  a 
handsome  young  matron.  So  it  was  not  without  some 
sense  of  adventure  that,  the  man  being  dismissed,  I 
consented  to  be  seated  in  a  dimly  lighted  anteroom. 
After  some  hesitation  she  said : 

"I'm  afraid,  Mr.  Cameron,  I'm  afraid  you  don't  quite 
under — that  you  have  misunderstood  me." 

"By  no  means,"  I  cried.  "Nothing  could  be  plainer 
— I  mean,  of  course,  nothing  clearer  than  that  I  am 
honoured  with  your  friendship." 

"No,  you  don't  quite  understand  yet." 

"Good  heavens !  Mrs.  Gordon,  can  it  be  possible  that 
I  can  hope  for  a  higher  regard?" 


A   NAUGHTY   EVENING  91 

"But  if  I  should  admit  that,  then  you  would  mis 
understand  me." 

"You  mean  that  it  could  not  possibly  be  true  even 
if  you  should  admit  it?" 

"How  hard  it  is  to  make  you  see  my  meaning,"  she 
replied.  "What  I  feel  for  you  is  more  than  friendship, 
but  you  men  are  so  bad  that  you  are  going  to  misunder 
stand  the  purity  of  it  all." 

"Purity,  Mrs.  Gordon!"  I  exclaimed. 

"Oh,  call  me  Trixy,"  she  sighed. 

By  this  time  I  had  all  this  purity  in  my  arms,  smoth 
ering  her  with  kisses  by  way  of  making  it  clear  that 
I  appreciated  purity.  At  this  very  moment,  though, 
we  heard  a  step  in  the  hall.  Disentangling  ourselves 
from  our  caresses,  we  had  scarcely  time  to  accomplish 
a  respectable  separation,  when  we  were  confronted  by 
her  husband.  He  had  just  himself  come  home,  a  little 
under  the  weather,  as  the  saying  is,  but  not  too  full  to 
think  the  situation  less  than  queer,  to  such  a  degree 
that,  even  in  that  light,  we  could  see  trouble  brewing  in 
his  head.  For  my  own  part,  I  began  to  feel  alarm. 

Then  it  was  that  his  artless  spouse  conceived  a  mas 
ter  stroke. 

"You're  home  at  last,  are  you  ?  Aren't  you  ashamed 
to  treat  me  this  way  ?"  she  cried. 

He  lacked  words  for  a  moment,  so  she  poured  in 
fresh  forces. 

"Aren't  you  ashamed  of  yourself, Dick  Gordon?  You 
know  I  expected  you  at  the  play,  and  here  I  am  forced 
to  make  Mr.  Cameron  stay  up  all  night  to  see  me  home. 
Don't  come  near  me,  now.  Don't  say  a  word.  I've 
stood  this  thing  as  long  as  I  can.  I'm  tired  of  it." 

In  a  few  minutes  he  was  offering  apologies,  begging 


92  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

the  wrathful  Trixy  to  be  reasonable,  and  calling-  me  to 
witness  the  exasperating  character  of  men's  engage 
ments  which  so  often  defeat  the  enjoyments  of  life  by 
one's  own  fireside,  to  all  of  which  I,  with  proper  hypoc 
risy,  acceded,  earnestly  interceding  with  the  lady,  who, 
as  I  finally  departed,  had  the  goodness  to  tell  Dick  that 
she  would  try  to  forgive  him. 

As  I  left  her  she  accompanied  me  part  of  the  way  to 
the  door,  adding  in  my  ear  that  she  was  sorry  she  had 
lost  her  dignity  by  noticing  such  a  creature  as  Lillian. 

"Such  persons,"  she  concluded  haughtily,  "are  un 
speakably  common." 


CHAPTER  XX 
TRIXY'S    HUSBAND 

T  T  is  truth  unqualified  that  no  man  ever  did  a  thing  so 
*  laudable  but  somebody  questioned  his  motives,  and 
that  no  act  was  ever  so  damnable  but  somebody  arose 
to  defend  it.  This  reflection,  which  the  reader  may 
imagine  has  to  do  with  my  conduct  or  that  of  Trixy 
just  related,  comes,  on  the  contrary,  from  that  of  her 
husband,  whose  name,  instead  o>f  our  own,  was  the  next 
morning  in  everybody's  mouth. 

It  appears  that  this  gentleman  had  taken  a  party  of 
men  aboard  his  yacht  the  day  before,  to  give  it  the 
first  trial  of  the  season,  and,  by  way  of  making  merry, 
had  imposed  upon  each  guest  the  duty  of  bringing  with 
him  some  four-legged  animal,  who  should  be  deemed 
also  a  guest  and  earn  repast  by  some  kind  of  antic.  Of 
course  this  folly  presupposed  unlimited  wine,  an  ex 
pectation  fully  gratified.  A  sheep,  an  ass,  a  pony,  and 
other  honest  brutes  were  forced  with  shamed  faces  to 
strut  or  gambol  before  inferior  men,  to  the  infinite  de 
light  of  the  latter  in  their  revels.  The  fun  reached  its 
height  when  the  right  of  one  of  the  guests  to  be  repre 
sented  by  a  monkey  was  challenged,  on  the  ground  that 
this  was  really  no  four-legged  animal  at  all,  but,  in 
truth,  a  man  like  the  rest  of  the  company,  with  two 
good  arms.  This  discussion  waxing  warm,  amid  the 

93 


94  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

popping  of  corks,  it  was  decided  to  hold  formal  argu 
ment,  with  opening  and  closing  speeches  on  either  side. 
The  result  of  it  all  was  that  the  monkey,  after  listening 
very  thoughtfully  for  a  time  to  one  or  two  of  the  ora 
tors,  made  his  escape  to  the  galley,  where  the  cook  fed 
him  so  inordinately  that,  before  sentence  was  arrived 
at  on  the  upper  deck,  the  little  beast  was  in  his  final 
convulsions  below. 

After  much  parley,  both  angry  and  good-natured,  it 
was  decided  to  inter  the  monkey  with  all  the  honours, 
and  according  to  the  ceremony  of  the  seas,  for  which 
purpose  a  book  of  prayer,  by  some  extraordinary  chance 
discovered  aboard,  was  produced  and  the  tipsy  com 
pany  assembled  on  deck.  Then  the  animal,  wrapped 
in  an  American  flag,  was  lowered  into  the  sea,  with  an 
imitation  of  both  naval  and  religious  rites,  amid  dole 
ful  chants,  wails  from  tin  horns,  and  blasts  from  a 
trumpet  or  two. 

Now,  all  this  occurring  in  the  bay  of  New  York  in 
broad  daylight,  the  din  of  it,  together  with  the  crowd 
on  the  deck,  caused  two  or  three  small  craft  to  lie  to 
where  they  could  watch  it.  This  having  done  to  their 
content  or  disgust,  they  reported  it  in  town,  with  the 
name  of  the  yacht,  so,  as  usual,  it  soon  spread  to  the 
newspapers. 

The  public  prints,  wanting  nothing  better  than  the 
follies  of  the  rich,  now  revelled,  and,  one  might  say, 
wallowed  in  this  contemptible  orgy  not  surpassed  by 
the  rotten  frolics  of  Capri.  Long  accounts  described 
the  affair  from  beginning  to  end.  One  journal  boasted 
that,  having  caught  wind  of  this  debauch,  it  had  se 
creted  a  reporter  on  the  yacht,  by  which  means  it  was 
able  to  give  a  circumstantial  account  of  the  whole.  Pic- 


TRIXY'S    HUSBAND  95 

tures  were  exhibited  of  the  yacht,  of  Gordon's  house, 
his  wife,  and  the  monkey.  Nay,  more,  there  were  pho 
tographs  of  the  monkey's  parents  in  the  museum,  and 
even  of  that  part  of  Africa  in  which  they  had  been  cap 
tured  years  before. 

The  town,  having  laughed  in  the  morning,  became 
indignant  by  noon,  but,  as  usual,  divided  about  the 
blame.  At  the  clubs  some  contended  that  Dick  should 
be  well  whipped,  others  that  a  fellow  with  such  a  fool 
for  a  wife  might  be  pardoned  in  anything.  To  this  it 
was  replied  that  he,  for  his  part,  had  lost  nothing  by 
the  bargain ;  the  least  he  could  do  was  to  be  decent.  A 
few,  growing  philosophic,  declared  the  affair  was  an 
inevitable  consequence  of  our  way  of  living  nowadays. 
The  tariff  was  the  cause  of  it  all,  by  creating  great  for 
tunes.  The  country  was  going  to  hell,  whether  or  no. 
A  small  number  defended  the  whole  affair,  the  religious 
mockery  being  to  these  a  harmless  mummery,  the  mon 
key  as  happy  dead  as  alive,  and  the  drinking  no  wrorse 
than  occurred  every  night  at  some  club  or  other  in  town. 

As  for  the  women,  these  declared  that,  while  it  was 
very  disgraceful,  still  poor  Dick,  having  no  home  life, 
must  be  treated  kindly  by  public  opinion,  and  they 
hoped  so  shocking  a  thing  would  prove  a  useful  lesson 
to  his  wife.  In  short,  nobody  could  talk  of  anything 
else  in  fashionable  life  that  day,  and  the  affair  was  such 
a  godsend  to  gossips  that  one  might  suppose  they  would 
have  felt  grateful  to  both  the  Gordons. 

Hardly  was  I  out  of  bed  before  I  was  called  by  tele 
phone  to  Mrs.  Oldworth,  who,  expressing  her  intense 
mortification  at  what  she  denounced  a  blasphemous  per 
formance,  informed  me  that,  with  part  of  the  house 
hold,  she  would  take  the  evening  train  to  her  country 


96  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

place.  For  the  first  time  she  commented  to  me  on  her 
family  relations.  Trixy,  she  said,  was,  as  I  could  see 
myself,  a  trying  young  person.  She  would  not  scold 
her  or  say  which  was  to  blame  for  a  good  deal  of  folly, 
but  she  could  advise  neither  of  them  again. 

With  that  she  dispatched  me  on  the  mid-day  train 
to  see  that  the  servants,  who  had  already  gone,  carried 
out  her  orders.  For  my  part,  I  was  glad  to  leave  town 
even  for  a  day.  My  scene  with  Trixy  filled  me  with 
disgust.  By  no  means  a  saint,  I  was  also  by  no  means 
a  sinner.  The  world  had  not  yet  weakened  the  virtues 
natural  to  proper  rearing,  and  I  felt  obligations  to  Mrs. 
Oldworth  even  in  this  part  of  her  connections. 

Before  I  left  my  lodgings  I  found  a  note  from  Trixy, 
advising  me  that  she  must  see  me  without  a  moment's 
delay.  From  this,  concluding  no  more  than  that  she 
again  felt  herself  misunderstood,  I  hurried  her  a  cor 
dial,  yet  safe,  reply  that  I  was  on  the  way  to  the  train. 
I  was  worried  by  this  behaviour  of  hers,  but  could  only 
hope,  from  the  levity  of  her  mind,  that  what  had  been 
conceived  in  folly  would  be  cast  aside  out  of  whim. 

The  seeming  caprice  of  fine  ladies  proceeds  often 
from  more  diversity  of  taste  than  fashion  permits  their 
sex  to  betray.  Our  own  has  a  privilege  to  avow  a 
vigorous  as  well  as  a  dainty  palate,  but  it  would  be 
manifestly  improper  for  a  lady  to  be  as  frank  as  Lord 
Foppington  in  the  old  play,  who,  relishing  variety  in 
his  fare,  vowed  he  thought  just  as  much  of  his  wife's 
maid  as  any  ortolan  duchess  in  Christendom. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
LILLIAN   AND    I   RESUME 

T  T  was  clear,  after  my  exchange  of  glances  with  Lil- 
*  lian  in  the  restaurant,  both  that  she  was  in  good 
humour  with  me  and  that  I,  for  my  part,  could  be  with 
her  again  without  making  a.  fool  of  myself,  so,  being 
resolved  to  get  some  insight  into  my  uncle's  entangle 
ment,  I  ventured  to  visit  her  before  going  to  the  coun 
try. 

"Well,  brother  Charles,"  said  she,  with  a  laugh, 
"what  now  ?" 

"Nothing,  sister  Lillian,"  I  replied,  "except  the  pleas 
ure  of  seeing  my  future  aunt." 

Upon  this  we  became  merry,  sipped  glasses  of  wine, 
and  vowed  there  was  nothing  so  sensible  as  friendship, 
during  all  which  I  pleasantly  teased  her  about  my  uncle. 

"I  declare,"  cried  she,  "your  uncle  is  no  more  to  me 
than  are  a  dozen  other  men  you  see  about  me.  In  fact, 
I'm  probably  not  so  much  to  him  as  his  housekeeper. 
What  do  you  know  about  that  woman  ?" 

As  I  could  tell  her  little,  I  found  she  was  full  of  curi 
osity  impossible  to  be  concealed,  each  of  us  intimating 
that  Maria  would  stop  at  nothing,  but  that,  as  she  had 
some  kind  of  claim  upon  my  uncle  of  none  too  dainty  a 
sort,  it  was  something  nobody  could  meddle  with. 

"Besides  which,"  added  Lillian,  "I  really  care  noth 
ing  about  it  at  all." 

97 


98  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Willing  to  believe  her,  I  gave  up  trying  to  discover 
what  were  her  relations  with  the  old  millionaire,  satis 
fied  to  be  on  good  terms  with  one  who  was  not  only 
big-hearted  and  good-natured,  but  who  might  be  able 
either  to  serve  or  injure  me  in  a  most  important  quar 
ter. 

She  was  in  the  highest  spirits  that  day,  and  it  was 
a  sight  to  see  her  playfulness. 

"What  a  house  I  had  last  night !"  she  cried.  "I  did 
with  them  whatever  I  pleased.  I  made  every  man, 
woman  and  child  do  just  what  I  wished.  Oh,  I  love 
them!  They're  my  babies,  my  babies — do  you  hear, 
Master  Charles  ? — my  babies,  every  one  of  them !" 

Here  she  fell  to  chasing  me  about  the  room  while 
pelting  me,  in  sheer  animal  spirits,  with  muffs,  fans 
and  gloves. 

"Babies!"  I  replied.  "Lord!  Lillian,  you  should 
have  been  married  and  had  real  babies  long  ago." 

"Oh,  the  poor  brats,"  she  answered,  "don't  wish 
them  such  a  fate,  wicked  girl  that  I  am.  The  people  are 
my  babies,  do  you  hear — do  you  hear  ?  Aren't  you  glad 
you're  not  in  love  with  me  any  more,  eh,  pretty  Charlie? 
But  you're  a  dear,  and  it's  better  this  way.  Oh,  my 
conscience!  I  must  send  for  Kitty  Riley  and  console 
her  for  that  bad  light  last  night.  I  gave  her  the  best 
position  in  the  scene,  worth  a  hundred  dollars  a  minute 
to  the  poor  thing  in  such  a  house,  but  the  provoking 
man  with  the  light  gave  it  nearly  all  to  me.  I  know 
she's  broken-hearted,  for  her  best  lines  fell  flat." 

I  wondered  how  I  could  behold  all  her  loveliness  in 
this  captivating  mood  of  hers  without  relapsing  into 
my  old  infatuation,  for  she  was  like  life  blown  into  one 
of  those  eighteenth-century  canvases,  where  painters 


LILLIAN   AND    I    RESUME         99 

have  striven  to  give  to  posterity  some  notion  of  the 
refined,  the  voluptuous  charms  of  blooming  Georgiana. 

In  the  midst  of  this  humour,  suddenly  becoming  a 
trifle  serious,  and  laying  her  hand  upon  my  shoulder, 
she  said: 

"Charles,  I  told  you  a  fib  the  other  day,  and  don't 
feel  right  about  it.  I  told  you  your  uncle  had  only  met 
me  a  week  or  two  before.  That  isn't  quite  true.  I've 
known  him  considerably  longer,  Charles,  but  was 
ashamed  to  let  so  young  a  man  as  you  know  that  I 
allowed  gray-headed  fellows  to  run  after  me."  Then, 
being  silent  for  a  moment,  as  she  seated  herself,  she 
added :  "I'm  sure  you'll  have  confidence  in  me,  for  I 
do  want  your  friendship.  I've  done  things  in  life  I 
regret,  but  I'm  going  to  stop  it.  Yesterday  I  rejected 
a  new  play  that  looks  like  a  popular  thing — a  moral 
lesson,  I  suppose  they'd  call  it,  but  none  of  it  for  me. 
I'll  not  allow  my  house  to  be  filled  with  good  women 
and  then  show  them  the  triumphs  of  a  rotten  wife." 


CHAPTER  XXII 
LILLIAN'S    FATHER 

A  T  this  moment  there  was  a  gentle  tap  on  the  door 
and  the  colour  came  to  her  cheeks  with  joy. 

"It's  my  father,"  she  cried.  "Ah,  there  you  are, 
father.  Here,  dear,  this  is  Mr.  Cameron,  one  of  our 
friends." 

"Glad  to  meet  you,  suh,"  said  a  genial  old  gentle 
man,  whose  face  was  most  kindly,  and  whom  the 
daughter  plainly  resembled. 

"You  are  from  the  South,"  I  remarked. 

"Knew  it  by  the  accent?  Well,  suh,  I  certainly 
didn't  know  I  had  any  left.  Yes,  suh ;  yes,  I'm  a  South 
erner,  suh.  My  little  girl  here,  too,  though  I  reckon 
she's  dropped  a  heap  of  our  way  of  talking,  eh,  Lil 
lian?" 

"I'm  sorry,  if  I  have,"  she  replied,  surveying  him 
with  fondness  while  she  made  him  comfortable. 

"The  South  is  proud  of  you,  anyway.  Yes,  suh, 
proud  of  you.  My  little  girl's  at  the  top  here,  Mr. 
Cameron.  You're  not  one  of  the  Virginia  Camerons, 
distant  cousins  of  mine,  suh?" 

"I  fear  not,  sir,"  I  replied. 

"Well,  you  needn't  regret  it  so  very  much,  after  all," 
he  continued.  "Things  are  not  growing  more  agree 
able  there,  Mr.  Cameron.  Yes,  daughter,  a  glass  of 
port.  I  don't  regret  my  little  woman's  living  here,  nowT 

100 


LILLIAN'S    FATHER  TCI 

that  most  of  our  conservative  friends  and  relatives 
down  there  have  accepted  her  going  on  the  stage.  For 
my  part,  though,  I  reckon  I  never  can  learn  to  like  this 
cold-blooded  town,  suh,  so  I've  given  it  up.  Mostly  in 
Washington  City,  suh." 

Nothing  could  exceed  Lillian's  tenderness  to  the  af 
fectionate  old  man.  As  we  talked  I  recurred  to  his  re 
mark  concerning  one's  being  well  off  to  be  out  of  the 
South. 

"I  suppose,"  said  I,  "you  have  the  negroes  in  mind. 
That's  all  right  now,  isn't  it?  You  have  them  under 
control?" 

"Oh,  yes,  yes,"  he  replied,  "under  control.  Lord! 
suh,  we  can  control  'em,  but  we're  getting  tired  of 
controlling." 

"But  they're  becoming  educated.  That  will  cure  the 
whole  trouble  in  time." 

"I  suppose,"  he  answered,  half-wearily,  "that  it's  no 
use,  Mr.  Cameron,  trying  to  make  this  clear  to  a  North 
erner.  The  education  of  them  begins  a  new  evil.  Mr. 
Cameron,  suh,  how  would  one  of  your  friends  on 
Fifth  Avenue  in  this  city  like  to  have  two  or  three  rich, 
educated  niggers  buy  houses  on  either  side  of  him? 
How  would  he  like  to  see  big  negro  girls  in  flaring 
costumes  get  in  and  out  of  carriages  beside  his  own 
door?  How  would  you  like  to  have  your  sister  sand 
wiched  between  two  of  'em  at  a  matinee?" 

I  shook  my  head ;  so  he  went  on. 

"Now,  suh,  that  we've  been  able  to  prevent  down 
there  to  date.  But,  my  God !  suh,  they're  breeding  like 
rabbits,  and,  of  course,  if  they're  ever  going  to  be  rich 

and  educated Well,  I  don't  see  how  the  same  soil 

will  hold  us  both." 


7.02  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Here  he  paced  the  floor. 

"Mr.  Cameron,  ask  some  man  from  Cincinnati  or 
Chicago  whether  property  ain't  being  ruined,  suh,  in 
white  neighbourhoods  there  when  rich  niggers  buy  resi 
dences  next  door.  There's  a  hundred  thousand  niggers 
there,  I'm  told — in  Chicago  already.  It's  coming  home 
to  the  North,  too." 

As  I  bade  him  good-day,  Lillian  led  me  to  the  door. 

"How  I  love  him !"  she  said.  "It  would  be  better  for 
me,  I'm  sure,  if  he  lived  here  always,  but  it's  incon 
venient  and  it's  asking  too  much  to  take  him  away  from 
all  his  Southern  friends." 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
IN   THE   COUNTRY 

JWl  RS.  OLD  WORTH'S  country  place  was  situated 
*  *  *  in  the  Berkshires,  where  the  Housatonic  winds 
near  pleasant  Lenoxdale.  The  tulips,  the  daffodils,  the 
wall-flowers,  the  trees  in  early  bloom,  and  every  blade 
of  grass  seemed  to  welcome  returning-  May.  From  the 
terrace  I  gazed  long  upon  a  landscape  in  which  ham 
lets  and  fair  estates  appear  and  disappear  amid  the 
gentle  disorder  of  the  hills.  Just  before  me  the  lawn, 
in  a  lazy  wave,  lost  itself  in  thicket  and  grove  by  a 
sweet  stratagem  that  beguiled  the  eye.  What  was  near 
seemed  distant;  what  was  artificial,  wild.  The  brook, 
the  pool,  the  grassy  bank  made  of  it  all  a  sylvan  scene. 

Spring,  to  many  the  season  of  melancholy,  now  af 
fected  me  with  some  sadness ;  so  it  was  a  relief,  after 
my  tasks  were  dispatched,  to  meet  Mrs.  Oldworth  and 
her  children  at  the  train.  It  was  also  an  agreeable  sur 
prise  to  find  she  had  brought  Betty.  Indeed,  I  could 
no  longer  quite  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  good 
woman  had  a  purpose  quite  friendly  to  me.  In  this  I 
was  encouraged  by  her  expressing  a  desire  that  I  re 
main  two  or  three  days,  as  she  had  other  guests  coming 
the  next  day,  and  these  I  could  help  her  entertain. 

By  the  next  noon  there  arrived  a  prominent  physi 
cian  and  a  United  States  Senator,  with  their  wives. 

103 


104  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

The  physician  was  one  of  those  who  make  a  fortune  in 
fashionable  circles.  Becoming  friendly  with  me,  he 
soon  fell  to  discussing  his  profession,  which,  he  said, 
quite  burdened  him  with  work.  All  sorts  of  new  mala 
dies  were  discovered  nowadays,  and  for  his  part  he 
preferred  the  knife.  There  was  much  more  certainty 
in  cutting.  He  referred  to  his  having  taken  out  and 
examined  some  of  the  most  aristocratic  livers  and  kid 
neys  in  town.  He  would  not,  he  said,  mention  names, 
a  thing  quite  forbidden  by  the  rules  of  his  calling,  but, 
if  he  had  a  mind,  he  could  tell  me  startling  things  con 
cerning  the  insides  of  our  millionaires.  As  for  our 
best  ladies,  most  of  whom  were  his  patients,  very  few 
cared  any  longer  to  go  about  entire. 

The  Senator,  Baxom  by  name,  was  a  statesman  from 
the  West,  where  he  had  amassed  a  large  fortune. 
Though  the  houses  were  in  session,  he  had  come  to 
New  York  to  spend  a  few  days,  a  brisk  and  cheery  old 
sinner,  knowing  nothing  about  public  affairs,  wholly 
intent  on  gain,  and,  without  being  bad-hearted,  ready 
for  any  scheme  that  promised  money.  However,  there 
was  no  one  more  respected,  for  he  often  talked  loudly 
of  our  great  country's  honour,  often  gave  to  charity 
with  a  liberal  hand,  and  was  clever  in  pleasing  editors. 
A  large,  stout  man,  he  had  that  bulk  which  our  people 
love  to  see  in  their  public  representatives,  selfishness, 
shrewdness  and  much  good-nature  appearing  in  him 
all  the  while ;  a  sort  of  person,  in  short,  commonly  seen 
in  American  public  life.  He  abounded  in  practical  good 
sense,  and,  with  all  his  faults,  he  would  not  have  been 
unwilling  to  shed  his  blood  for  his  country. 

The  physician's  wife  was  that  rare  monster,  a  silent 
woman.  The  silent  are  the  spies  of  social  intercourse. 


IN   THE   COUNTRY  105 

Those  who  rarely  have  anything  to  say,  advance  not 
on  their  own  invention,  but  on  that  of  the  frank,  whose 
ideas  they  adopt  and  whose  errors  they  cunningly 
avoid.  Real  brightness,  on  the  other  hand,  hurries  to 
expression,  and  while  many  fools  talk  too  much,  in 
ventive  minds  delight  in  communication.  Yet,  the  silent 
more  commonly  please  because  they  convey  to  every 
.one  the  impression  of  agreeing.  In  addition  to  silence, 
the  doctor's  wife  had  the  unpardonable  vice  of  a  large 
nose,  and  all  thoughtful  men  are  agreed  that  the  spe 
cies  of  big-nosed  women  should  be  exterminated. 

The  Senator's  wife,  just  the  opposite  of  the  doctor's, 
was  a  lively  talker,  who  frequently  flattered,  but  in 
such  a  way  that,  though  you  knew  it  was  flattery,  you 
were  willing  to  swallow  more,  since  she  never  made  it 
gross  enough  to  spoil  digestion. 

Good  opportunity  occurring,  I  took  a  long  walk  with 
Betty,  who,  having  read  the  scandal  about  Gordon's 
frolic,  inquired  whether  Mrs.  Oldworth  was  not  deeply 
annoyed,  that  lady  having  been  apparently  in  no  happy 
humour  on  the  way  down  from  New  York. 

"It  is  the  most  awful  thing  I  ever  heard  of,"  said 
Betty ;  "and  I  suppose  Trixy  is  feeling  even  worse." 

"I  think  she  will  get  over  it,"  I  replied. 

"Poor  thing,"  exclaimed  Betty,  "the  women  are  all 
censuring  her,  but,  for  my  part,  if  I  were  a  married 
woman  in  her  place,  I  should  feel  myself  entitled  to 
sympathy.  Of  course  she  loves  her  husband.  She 
wouldn't  be  married  to  him  if  she  didn't.  At  any  rate, 
I  should  certainly  love  a  man  very  much  if  I  were  mar 
ried  to  him,  not  that  it  makes  any  difference  as  to  what 
I  would  do,  as  I  made  up  my  mind  long  ago  never  to 


io6  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

marry  at  all,  and  never  would  think  of  considering 
such  a  thing." 

This  fable  I  pretended  to  accept,  though,  as  she  was 
plainly  made  by  nature  for  motherhood,  she  had  al 
ready  begun  to  think  of  little  else.  States  rose  and  fell, 
but  Betty  knew  the  vicissitudes  of  her  neighbours'  ba 
bies,  the  politics  of  domestic  life,  and  the  administra 
tion  of  nurseries. 

We  finally  talked  of  my  future.  Fame,  I  said,  was 
the  only  object  for  which  a  man  should  live,  fame  to 
be  achieved  by  untiring  toil. 

"And  so  I  say,  too,"  cried  Betty.  "I  long  to  be  a 
man  myself  and  strive  for  such  things." 

"It  is  a  hard  career,"  said  I,  "but  the  delight  of  it 
all  is  a  sufficient  reward." 

"I  should  think  it  would  be,"  replied  she,  "to  have 
all  the  world  talking  about  one." 

"No  matter  for  the  reputation,  Miss  Betty."  I  ob 
served,  with  great  philosophy;  "it  is  only  the  glory  of 
elevating  one's  art  that  satisfies  the  true  love  of  fame. 
Think  of  it,  to  dedicate  days  and  nights  to  the  refine 
ment  of  a  few  fine  passages  in  prose  or  verse,  to  de 
stroy  in  disgust  what  it  has  taken  hours  to  create  and 
what  you  know  the  less  fastidious  public  would  be  glad 
to  accept,  only  to  create  anew " 

"Oh !"  exclaimed  Betty,  "it  is  grand  to  hear  a  man 
talk  like  that !  There  is  nothing  like  fame." 

"The  long,  patient  struggle  through  poverty  and 
obscurity,"  I  continued,  "the  indifference  to  companion 
ship  and  the  happy  home,  this  is  the  price  of  fame.'' 

"I  fear,"  said  Betty,  "the  wife  of  such  a  man  would 
have  a  hard  time." 


IN    THE   COUNTRY  107 

"Wife !"  I  exclaimed.  "The  true  seeker  after  fame, 
the  true  student  of  an  art,  has  no  time  for  marriage." 

"Now,  I  think  that's  very  odd,  to  say  the  least,"  re 
plied  Betty,  in  a  different  tone.  "Why  are  women  al 
ways  to  be  left  out  of  anything  that's  fine?" 

"Oh,  Miss  Betty,  how  can  such  a  man  spare 
time " 

1  'Well,  he  needn't  be  quite  so  crazy  about  it,  need 
he?"  retorted  Betty;  "not  that  anybody  would  object 
or  care  if  he  did,  but  why  should  he?" 

"Impossible !"  I  replied.  "He  must  forego  paradise 
itself  if  it  interferes  with  his  losing  himself  body  and 
soul  in  his  work.  He  must  spurn  delights  and  live 
laborious  days." 

"Well,  I'm  glad,"  replied  the  irritated  maiden,  "that 
I  never  did  approve  of  fame.  What  good  does  this 
fame  do  any  one,  I  should  like  to  know  ?  Why  should 
a  man  kill  himself  to  be  talked  of  by  people  he  never 
expects  to  see?" 

At  this  juncture  we  were  turning  a  corner  on  the 
roadway,  when  we  met  the  butler  returning  from  the 
station,  whereupon  the  ruffled  Betty  seemed  willing  to 
have  other  company. 

"Thomas,"  said  she  to  the  butler,  "I  see  some  ladies 
and  gentlemen  down  the  road,  so  you  must  have  passed 
them.  Are  they  friends  of  ours  ?" 

"I  think  not,  ma'am.  In  fact,  I'm  quite  sure,  as  they 
were  laughing  and  talking  a  great  deal." 

"What  do  you  mean,  Thomas  ?  Can't  our  friends  do 
that?" 

"Meaning  it  with  great  respect,  ma'am,  I  hardly 
think  any  of  our  best  people  would  ever  let  any  one  see 
them  as  happy  as  that." 


io8  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Then  let  us  return  to  the  house,  Mr.  Cameron,"  said 
Betty,  who  on  the  way  back  had  two  or  three  moods 
of  irritation  and  of  affected  gaiety.  It  was  impossible 
to  look  upon  her  and  not  see  how  sweet  it  was  to  be 
good. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
SENATOR   BAXOM 

'"THAT  afternoon  there  visited  the  house,  from  a 
neighbouring  estate,  Mr.  Reginald  Catesby  and 
his  sister,  the  Countess  Chateauroux.  The  brother  was 
a  good-looking  fopling,  who  had  already  squandered 
the  best  part  of  his  inheritance,  was  now  in  search  of 
an  heiress,  and  was  utterly  worthless  at  cards,  at  races, 
or  in  business.  With  difficulty  he  kept  up  an  extrava 
gant  sort  of  life,  including  membership  of  those  select 
clubs,  in  which,  even  when  you  happen  to  meet  a 
scoundrel,  you  have  the  comfort  of  knowing  that  he 
must  be  a  gentleman.  The  Countess  with  her  share  of 
the  father's  fortune  had  bought  one  of  the  best  noble 
men  in  the  market,  nor  had  she  fared  altogether  badly, 
as  the  fellow  had  not  cursed  her  within  the  first  month, 
had  not  filched  her  jewels  before  the  second,  and  had 
not  mauled  her  until  just  before  the  birth  of  her  child. 
They  were  separated  now,  as,  her  money  being  nearly 
exhausted,  the  Count  found  her  no  longer  worth  beat 
ing. 

It  is  impossible  to  avoid  some  gloomy  predictions 
concerning  a  people  who  annually  expend  in  pleasure 
abroad  more  than  one  hundred  millions.  This  sum, 
the  least  that  either  apprehension  or  optimism  has  ever 
conceded  to  our  European  travel,  aggregates  in  two 

109 


i  io  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

decades  the  appalling  amount  of  two  billions  of  dollars. 
Were  this  spent  in  exchange  for  commodities  the  trans 
fer  of  values  might  well  console  us.  But  it  is,  in  a 
sense,  squandered  upon  the  servants,  the  restaurants, 
the  railways,  and  the  inns  of  foreign  countries,  most 
of  which  buy  from  us  few  of  the  necessaries,  and  none 
of  the  luxuries,  of  existence.  To  supply  this  woeful 
drain  (increasing  constantly  through  foreign  marriages 
and  domiciles  abroad),  the  soils  once  virgin  contribute 
a  declining  harvest,  whilst  mines  are  becoming  ex 
hausted  and  noble  forests  have  already  been  consumed. 

Catesby  at  once  addressed  himself  to  Betty,  then  in 
the  humour  to  receive  attentions  that  might  serve  to 
show  her  independent  of  mine,  but  the  honest  girl,  un 
used  to  artifice,  could  not  avoid  betraying  how  much 
she  made  a  point  of  it ;  for,  as  Erasmus  says  in  one  of 
his  colloquies,  the  soul  is  not  where  it  respires,  but 
where  it  spires. 

Meanwhile,  I  thought  it  wise  to  talk  much  with  the 
Senator.  I  had  an  itch  for  political,  as  well  as  literary, 
honours,  so  I  deemed  it  good  use  of  my  time  to  make 
a  deep  impression  on  this  statesman.  Indeed,  I  fancied 
I  had  already  made  some  such  impression,  a  conclu 
sion  quite  pardonable  in  me,  as  no  one  else  had  ever 
met  him  without  fancying  the  same  thing. 

"We  need  young  men  like  you  in  the  public  service, 
Mr.  Cameron,"  said  the  Senator,  thoughtfully.  "You 
must  not  be  selfish  to  your  country." 

"You  are  very  kind,  sir,"  I  replied. 

"Not  at  all.  Men  who  meet,  as  I  do,  thousands  of 
youth  from  all  parts  of  this  great  country  learn  to  esti 
mate  people  pretty  quickly." 

With  this  the  great  man,  compressing  his  lips,  gazed 


SENATOR   BAXOM  in 

at  me  with  infinite  penetration.  Deeply  flattered,  I  re 
doubled  my  attentions,  which  the  Senator,  for  want  of 
better,  appeared  to  accept  with  a  good  grace. 

"What  I  long  to  employ  in  public,"  I  observed,  "is 
my  ability  as  a  speaker." 

"Which  is  precisely  what  to-day  the  nation  most 
needs,"  responded  he.  "I  don't  pretend  to  oratory  my 
self.  I  haven't  time  for  it.  My  duties  are  to  counsel 
and  support  the  business  interests  of  the  country  at  the 
Capitol,  seeing  to  it  that  the  great  aggregations  of 
wealth,  called  corporations,  are  not  oppressed  by  anar 
chistic  legislation,  on  the  one  hand,  and  do  not  encroach 
beyond  their  legitimate  sphere,  on  the  other.  I  may 
add  that  really  all  that  is  necessary  to  capital  is  to  let 
it  alone,  let  it  alone.  But  dangerous  tendencies  are 
being  stirred  among  our  people,  Mr.  Cameron.  Capital 
will  tolerate  it  only  a  certain  time,  and  then  we  shall 
have  a  panic,  the  damnedest  panic,  if  I  may  so  express 
myself,  ever  seen  on  God's  footstool." 

"Then,  like  the  Greeks,"  I  exclaimed,  "we  need  an 
other  Demosthenes." 

"Undoubtedly,"  replied  the  Senator,  adding :  "I  am 
glad,  speaking  of  the  Greeks,  that  you  keep  your  eye 
on  foreign  affairs.  I  understand  the  person  you  men 
tion  is  prominent  among  those  people  just  now.  Be 
tween  ourselves,  if  the  Greeks  don't  stop  their  eternal 
brawls  with  Turkey,  Uncle  Sam  will  have  to  say  a  word 
or  two  in  the  matter.  We  can't  neglect  our  duty  to 
civilisation  with  all  that  fleet  of  ours  lying  idle  and 
burning  coal  in  the  Mediterranean." 

From  this  kind  of  talk  I  got  some  notion  of  the 
statesman's  learning  and  polish.  By  degrees,  after  sev 
eral  chats,  he  appeared  to  take  an  interest  in  me,  and 


112  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

he  dropped  the  style  of  the  politician  for  that  of  the 
hard-headed  man  of  the  world. 

"Young  man/'  he  said,  "you'll  probably  cut  some 
figure  in  the  world,  for  you  have  a  good  command  of 
language.  Don't  let  all  this  fashionable  nonsense,  this 
society,  as  they  call  it,  get  into  your  head.  There's  no 
damned  sense  in  all  this  family  talk  we  hear  nowadays. 
Most  of  us  never  had  any  family.  The  rest  of  us  are 
ashamed  of  whatever  family  we  had.  The  whole  coun 
try  was  founded  by  people  as  poor  as  poverty  itself, 
working  with  their  own  hands,  and  glad  to  get  ham 
and  eggs  three  times  a  week.  Now  that  we're  rich, 
we're  hunting  genealogy.  What  do  I  care  whether  my 
ancestors'  ancestors  were  in  the  smart  set  in  the  ark? 
Does  it  do  me  any  good  ?  Does  it  make  me  any  better 
than  the  rest  of  the  people?  Pshaw!  If  a  man  has 
plenty  of  money,  he's  as  good  as  any  rotten  young 
prince  that  ever  looked  about  for  an  American  soap- 
maker's  daughter  to  support  him." 

Without  flatly  disagreeing  with  him,  I  suggested 
that,  of  course,  he  would  concede  some  difference  in 
blood. 

"Mighty  little,"  quoth  the  Senator.  "The  worst 
scoundrels  I  ever  knew  were  of  old  family  and  the  best 
fellows  I  ever  did  business  with  were  as  common  as 
mud." 

After  a  moment's  silence  he  added :  "My  wife  takes 
a  great  interest  in  these  things.  She  gets  me  a  new 
ancestry  every  year,  and  as  I  never  know  what  it  is,  I'm 
never  ashamed  of  it." 

While  he  was  making  this  remark  there  appeared 
in  one  of  the  walks  young  Catesby  talking  earnestly  to 
Betty,  upon  which  the  Senator,  turning  to  me,  as  if  it 


SENATOR   BAXOM  113 

were  unnecessary  to  use  words,  winked  knowingly  and 
grunted  in  a  manner  that  indicated  contempt  beyond 
utterance. 

I  had  not  begun  to  think  about  a  rival  where  I  had 
so  little  aspiration.  Meanwhile,  to  my  surprise,  one 
of  the  servants  brought  me  information  that  the  fair 
Mrs.  Gordon,  who  had  arrived  a  short  time  before, 
would  like  to  see  me  at  once.  Uninvited  by  her  hostess, 
she  had  come  by  right  of  connection,  a  visit  I  was  none 
too  pleased  to  hear  of  and  which  I  felt  was  going  to 
lead  to  unpleasant  consequences. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
AT    THE    COUNTRY    HOUSE 

A  LL  social  contention  among  us  is  conducted  by  the 
women,  among  whom  ''society"  is  exactly  what 
politics  is  among  men.  The  same  intrigues,  the  same 
vigilance  against  a  rising  rival,  the  same  conciliation 
through  fear,  or  oppression  through  power,  the  same 
necessity  to  be  active  in  order  not  to  be  forgotten,  the 
same  emulation  to  be  recognised  by  the  leaders,  and 
the  same  jealousies  over  the  distribution  of  favours,  all 
these  things  are  repeated  in  the  politics  of  the  fair. 
They  only  receive  favours  who  are  in  position  to  re 
turn  them,  and  the  favours  they  receive  are  commonly 
no  greater  than  they  can  repay.  A  reception  is  a  gen 
eral  convention,  luncheon  a  council  of  the  leaders. 
There  is  this  striking  thing  in  common  between  these 
two  sorts  of  politics,  that  the  title  to  leadership  in  both 
rests  generally  upon  no  better  foundation  than  the  fear 
of  others  to  attack  it. 

What  is  known  as  society  in  the  United  States  af 
fords  to  the  upstart  unparalleled  opportunity.  Here 
there  is  no  standard  by  which  to  measure  the  extent 
of  impudence.  When  a  new  aspirant  appears,  if  her 
origin  be  low,  it  is  at  first  laughed  at,  but  if  her  claims 
be  obstinately  persisted  in  and  supported  by  wealth, 
curiosity  is  at  length  aroused.  Who,  it  is  inquired, 

114 


AT   THE   COUNTRY   HOUSE      115 

shall  say  that  they  are  really  her  betters?  Who,  that 
would  exclude  her  on  the  score  of  birth,  can  lay  claim 
to  more  than  one  or  two  generations  out  of  trade? 
Even  among  the  latter,  what  indispensable  stamp 
brands  them  with  superiority  ?  In  Germany  or  in  Eng 
land  the  most  splendid  expenditures  of  the  parvenu  are 
beheld  with  equanimity  by  those  whose  genealogy  is 
a  part  of  the  orders  of  the  State  and  the  very  fabric 
of  government.  With  the  newly  rich  they  need  not 
vie  whose  family  names  are  a  part  of  the  general  his 
tory  and  preserved  in  household  tradition.  Now,  in 
our  own  country,  such  as  aspire  to  fashion  must  ever 
be  on  the  alert  to  adopt  its  latest  whims,  the  most  trivial 
change  of  dress,  of  furniture,  or  of  accent.  These  tri 
fles,  which  an  aristocracy  of  blood  may  disdain,  are 
among  us  the  only  ordinary  tests  of  elegance. 

In  the  two  days  following  her  husband's  "monkey 
funeral,"  as  it  was  derisively  called  by  the  newspapers, 
Trixy,  who  cared  not  a  particle  about  the  shame  of  it, 
and  indeed  was  glad  to  hear  the  town  gadding  about 
whatever  bore  her  name,  affected  the  air  of  one  having 
a  cross  to  bear.  Such  was  the  frivolity  of  her  mind 
that  she  would  have  been  pleased  to  bury  a  near  relative 
as  an  excuse  to  wear  frou-frou  in  black.  Accordingly, 
she  was  now  a  very  serious  person  during  a  day  or  two. 

The  ladies  taking  their  tea  at  five  o'clock,  Trixy,  dur 
ing  the  talk,  observed  that  there  was  a  matter  on  which 
she  desired  their  opinion.  She  would  feel  better  if  she 
had  their  advice.  This  meant  that  she  had  secretly  re 
solved  to  do  a  certain  thing,  and  merely  wanted  to  have 
them  approve  in  advance  what  they  would  otherwise 
condemn  after  it  should  happen. 

"What  I  wish  you  to  be  frank  about,"  said  she,  "is 


n6  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

this :  Do  you  see  anything  wrong  in  my  entertaining  a 
young  man  in  the  afternoon  when  he  drops  in  ?  Now 
be  frank  with  me,  perfectly  frank." 

"I  don't  know,"  responded  the  Senator's  wife; 
"there's  no  harm  in  it,  of  course,  except  for  what  people 
may  say." 

"But  they're  always  saying  something  horrid,  any 
way,"  said  Trixy. 

"To  be  sure,"  remarked  another,  "and  the  principal 
thing  to  consider  is  what  your  husband  thinks  about 
it." 

"Oh,  Dick  entirely  approves.  In  fact,  he  insists  on 
it,  you  know." 

"Our  husbands  are  sometimes  kind  in  their  way  of 
concealing  what  they  really  think,"  observed  Mrs.  Per 
kins. 

"But  Dick  isn't  that  way  at  all,"  exclaimed  Trixy; 
"he  is  wonderfully  frank.  For  my  part,  I  feel  it  my 
duty  to  let  him  know  that  I  know  that  he  trusts  me 
implicitly." 

"I  am  not  sure,"  said  the  doctor's  wife,  with  little 
tact,  "that  I  should  feel  altogether  pleased  if  the  doctor 
should  appear  willing  that  I  should  have  gentlemen 
visitors  at  a  time  when  our  most  elegant  women  prefer 
not  to  receive  them." 

"Thank  heavens!"  replied  Trixy,  in  her  sweetest 
manner,  "my  husband  has  the  most  perfect  confidence 


in  me." 


"That  I  can't  say  for  mine,"  retorted  the  doctor's 
wife,  in  no  good  humour,  "since  I  have  never  put  his 
confidence  to  the  test." 

"One  can  readily  understand,"  quoth  Trixy,  with  a 


AT   THE   COUNTRY    HOUSE      117 

happy  laugh,  "that  some  women  are  less  tempted  than 
others." 

Both  ladies  having  now  drawn  blood,  the  Senator's 
wife,  deeming  it  time  to  interfere,  remarked: 

"These  things  are  easily  managed.  You  should  do 
as  my  sister  in  the  Navy  does,  and  all  the  other  ladies 
in  the  service.  If  you  wish  to  have  young  men  visitors, 
just  invite  a  young  lady  as  a  guest  for  the  season. 
Then,  if  any  young  gentleman  calls  to  see  you  too 
often,  it's  the  young  lady  he  comes  to  see,  so  far  as 
the  world  is  concerned,  and  then  there's  nothing  wrong 
in  the  thing." 

This  suggestion  being  regarded  as  very  sagacious 
as  well  as  moral,  it  was  finally  agreed  that  Trixy  should 
do  whatever  her  own  judgment  deemed  best  under  the 
circumstances,  that  whatever  she  did  would  be  quite 
right  in  any  event,  that  nobody  nowadays  cared  about 
these  niceties,  after  all,  and  that  it  would  really  be  bet 
ter  if  there  were  less  talk  concerning  women's  actions 
in  this  terrible  town.  Then  Betty  added,  with  real  in 
nocence,  that  she  thought  married  women  less  in  dan 
ger  than  young  girls  when  entertaining  young  men, 
since  their  thoughts  were  sure  to  be  on  their  husbands 
all  the  while.  At  this  observation  the  older  dames,  ex 
changing  knowing  looks,  vowed  nothing  could  be  more 
true,  and  gave  way  by  degrees  to  considerable  mirth. 

During  the  evening  young  Catesby,  divining  by  Bet 
ty's  glances  where  her  thoughts  lay,  now  assumed  to 
wards  me  a  manner  so  supercilious  that  I  began  to 
hate  him,  the  effect  of  which  feeling  was  to  make  it  a 
pleasure  to  me  to  divert  her  company,  and  as  coquetry 
is  natural  to  a  maiden,  however  pure,  the  pretty  and 
amiable  girl  made  good  use  of  the  situation.  Thus  the 


n8  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

evening  came  to  a  close  to  her  advantage,  but  before 
morning  something  was  to  make  her  visit  a  most  un 
happy  one  and  leave  her  to  wish  she  had  never  seen  the 
dapple  hills,  the  groves,  and  flowery  lawns  of  Lenox- 
dale. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
ANOTHER  NAUGHTY  EVENING 

O  CARCELY  had  I  gone  to  my  bedroom  that  night 
^  when  the  butler  appeared,  though  it  was  late,  to 
have  a  word  with  me,  which  he  said  he  had  put  off 
being  so  bold  as  to  communicate  until  the  arrival  of  a 
certain  person  had  made  it,  if  he  might  be  permitted 
so  to  express  himself,  a  duty  "to  all  parties  concerned," 
including  myself,  who,  he  was  sure,  would  take  no  of 
fence.  After  the  circumlocution  of  a  Chinese  peace- 
talker,  he  made  himself  plain. 

The  morning  after  the  monkey  dinner  he  had  been 
sent  by  Mrs.  Oldworth  to  the  Gordons'  with  a  message, 
and,  being  as  much  admitted  to  that  house  as  its  own 
servants,  he  had  gone  directly  to  the  breakfast-room 
to  deliver  it.  There  he  had  come  upon  a  violent  alter 
cation  between  the  Gordons,  neither  of  whom  saw  him 
until  it  was  too  late.  As  a  self-respecting  serving- 
man  he  had  remained  in  the  hall,  but,  fearing  some  vio 
lence  between  the  two,  he  had  demeed  it  his  duty  to  be 
within  hearing  of  the  secrets. 

The  truth  of  it  all  was  that  Trixy,  like  a  clever 
strategist,  had  decided  to  be  on  the  offensive,  the  best 
way  to  conceal  her  own  movements  being  to  keep  her 
lord  uneasy  about  the  discovery  of  his.  What  he  had 
seen  between  his  wife  and  me  the  night  before  had 

119 


120  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

made  some  impression  on  him,  she  could  perceive,  so 
she  poured  a  lively  volley  on  him  at  breakfast  about 
the  affair  of  the  yacht,  then  before  them  both  in  yellow 
pictures  and  glaring  head-lines.  But  the  husband,  his 
head  aching  from  debauch,  was  in  an  irritable  mood. 
Without  apology  he  flung  back  at  her  some  of  her  own 
indiscretions  that  had  caused  small  scandal,  upbraided 
her  with  frivolity,  blamed  her  for  too  much  liquor,  and 
ended  with  saying  that  no  decent  woman  would  be 
caught  in  such  a  situation  as  that  in  which  he  had 
found  her  with  me  at  one  o'clock  that  morning. 

The  lady,  unaccustomed  to  such  spirit  in  her  hus 
band,  took  an  equally  vituperative  turn  in  order  to 
subdue  him,  several  of  his  daintiest  affairs  in  the  past 
being  ripped  open  in  no  sweet  or  silvery  tones.  In 
short,  it  was  what  is  called  a  cat-and-dog  fight  to  the 
verge  of  scratches  and  blows. 

"Then,  sir,  if  you'll  believe  me,"  related  the  butler, 
"Mr.  Gordon  he  says,  'If  ever  that  Cameron'  (calling 
you  a  very  vile  name,  indeed)  'comes  into  this  house 
again,  I'll  kill  him,'  and  he  says  how  he  had  been 
a-suspecting  things  for  some  time,  and  how  a  man  of 
his  honour  and  prominence  could  stand  it  no  longer, 
and  with  that  Mrs.  Gordon  she  fairly  screamed,  she 
was  in  such  a  rage,  and  throws  a  cup,  sir,  a  cup,  I  say, 
at  her  husband's  head,  which  is  very  unusual  in  our 
best  families,  and  I  may  say,  sir,  meaning  no  disre 
spect  to  a  lady  that  you  feel  friendly  towards,  is  not 
a  fair  thing  to  do  as  concerns  the  servants,  they  having 
a  right  to  be  exempted  from  such  unpleasant  occur 
rences  and  that  a  family  shall  be  refined  and  peaceable, 
considering  the  meddlesome  police  nowadays.  It  was 
very  exciting,  sir,  for  she  was  a-grabbing  other  things 


ANOTHER  NAUGHTY  EVENING  121 

to  fling  at  him.  And  I  says  to  William,  who  also 
deemed  it  his  duty  to  overhear  what  occurred,  'Oh !  my 
God!'  Then  William  says, 'What  shall  we  do?'  Then 
I  says,  'Stay  where  we  are/  Then  he  says,  'Let  us 
rush  in.'  Then  I  says,  'Stay  where  you  are.'  Then  he 
says,  'Let  us  make  a  noise.'  Then  I  says,  'Stay  where 
you  are.'  Then  he  says,  'She  has  seized  a  knife.'  Then 
I  says,  'You  must  not  forget  yourself/  and  by  that  time 
she  was  in  hysterics  or  the  like,  which  made  her  harm 
less,  so  to  speak,  and  justified  our  coming  in  as  if  noth 
ing  had  happened." 

The  fellow  then  explained  that  he  had  hoped  it 
would  not  be  necessary  to  mention  the  matter  to  me, 
but  that  Mrs.  Gordon's  coming  to  Lenoxdale  under 
the  same  roof  with  me  made  it  humbly  his  duty  to 
advise  me  of  her  husband's  suspicions,  not  that  such 
suspicions  were  justifiable,  which,  of  course,  they  were 
not,  but  that  I  had  been  too  good  to  him  to  be  kept  in 
ignorance  of  what  had  occurred.  I  sent  him  away  with 
a  piece  of  money,  thanked  him,  begged  him  to  be  dis 
creet,  though  I  knew  the  story  must  already  be  in  every 
kitchen  in  the  city,  and  sat  down  to  fume  over  so  exas 
perating  an  incident.  I  saw  my  pleasant  secretaryship 
in  peril,  together  with  the  good  name  of  the  family  that 
was  befriending  me. 

There  shone  that  night  a  radiant  moon  that  filled 
with  light  the  windows  of  my  chamber  and  the  veranda 
upon  which  they  opened.  Unable  to  sleep,  I  went  out 
upon  this  porch.  It  extended  around  two  sides  of  the 
body  of  the  house  upon  the  second  story,  so  that  some 
other  bedrooms  (though  of  this  I  did  not  think)  opened 
upon  it,  one  or  two  at  a  level  with  its  floor,  and  others 
slightly  above.  Hardly  had  I  paced  twice  the  length 


122  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

of  this  walk,  everybody  being  apparently  asleep,  when 
I  heard  a  noise  at  a  window  and  saw  the  head  of  a 
woman  peeping  out.  I  would  have  fled  if  I  could,  for 
it  was  Trixy,  who,  instantly  recognising  me,  called  in 
a  low  voice  that  she  would  join  me. 

I  was  much  perplexed.  What  else,  however,  could 
be  done  than  to  be  polite?  In  a  moment  she  came  out 
sufficiently  wrapped  against  the  night  air,  but  otherwise 
pretty  loosely  attired. 

"You  are  avoiding  me,"  she  said  at  once.  "You  have 
scarcely  said  ten  words  to  me  to-day/' 

"I  have  not  avoided  you,"  I  replied,  "but  it  would  be 
better  for  us  both  if  I  had." 

"I  thought  you  had  more  courage,"  she  exclaimed, 
petulantly. 

"Courage,"  I  said,  "has  nothing  to  do  with  this  case. 
It  is  a  matter  of  prudence,  and,  I  may  say,  decorum." 

I  didn't  like  to  say  honour,  as  that  would  have  re 
flected  upon  her  great  purity,  which  was  understood  as 
a  basis  of  all  intercourse. 

"There  you  go.  A  man's  a  man,  always  looking  to 
his  precious  name.  After  forcing  me  to  fall  in  love 
with  you  and  humble  myself,  you  are  teaching  me  moral 
lessons  because  you're  afraid  people  will  talk." 

"Now,  my  dear  Trixy,"  I  replied,  "you  must  know 
me  better  already  than " 

"I  know,"  she  cried  passionately,  "that  I  am  in  love 
with  you — desperately,  stupidly  in  love  with  you  from 
the  day  I  first  saw  you,  and  that  I  am  going  to  have 
you  to  myself,  all  to  myself.  I  have  fooled  with  men, 
been  reckless  with  men,  but  now  I  love  one,  and  I  want 
him.  I  am  going  to  have  love  in  my  life,  oppose  it  who 
will." 


ANOTHER  NAUGHTY  EVENING  123 

"For  Heaven's  sake,  stop,  Mrs.  Gordon!" 

"Don't  call  me  by  that  name,  I  tell  you,"  she  ex 
claimed.  "Tell  me  that  you  love  me,  that  you  love  me, 
do  you  hear?" 

By  this  time  she  had  her  arms  around  my  neck,  self- 
willed  and  amorous.  To  no  purpose  I  argued  with 
her.  She  would  have  me  avow  my  love,  even  though 
she  saw  she  was  compelling  me  to  utter  it.  We  were 
then  standing  beneath  one  of  those  smaller  windows 
that  opened  above  the  porch.  In  a  weak  moment  I 
exclaimed : 

"Trixy,  you  know  I  love  you.  Are  you  not  satis 
fied  ?"  at  the  same  time  giving  her  a  warm  caress. 

At  that  instant  there  was  a  sound  at  the  window. 

"Hush !"  whispered  Trixy. 

"Someone?" 

"Yes." 

"Where?" 

"Above — at  the  window." 

The  window  had  been  softly  closed,  as  if  the  person 
who  did  it  desired  not  to  be  heard,  or  not  to  overhear 
us.  We  looked  at  each  other  in  alarm.  Then  Trixy 
said : 

"I  know  that  room.  Why  is  she  not  asleep  long  ago  ? 
You  spoke  too  loud.  Betty  has  that  room." 

We  separated  in  alarm,  I  in  disgust  besides.  In  the 
morning  I  saw  by  her  looks  that  it  was  Betty's  room 
indeed,  that  she  had  overheard  us,  how  much  I  knew 
not,  and  that  she  would  not  again  be  the  same  to  me. 

Determined  to  rid  myself  of  the  whole  complicated 
situation,  I  got  from  Mrs.  Oldworth  an  excuse  to  go 
to  town,  where  I  speedily  hurried  by  the  next  train,  for 
the  first  time  feeling  that  it  would  be  a  sad  business 


124  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

to  lose  the  affections  of  Betty.  Her  virtuous  mind 
would  be  as  much  offended,  I  reflected,  by  my  addresses 
to  a  woman  already  married,  or  by  my  disloyalty  to 
a  hostess  in  thus  apparently  meddling-  with  her  family 
dignity,  as  by  any  loss  to  herself  in  the  discovery  that 
my  love  was  avowed  to  Mrs.  Gordon. 

These  considerations,  however,  were  for  a  time  im 
mediately  removed  from  my  mind  by  two  or  three  new 
incidents  by  no  means  expected. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
AN  ENTERPRISING  REPORTER 

N  my  return  to  the  city  I  found  sufficient  to  em- 
ploy  me,  besides  which  my  curiosity  concerning 
my  uncle  and  Lillian  made  it  impossible  not  to  meditate 
such  visits  to  the  beauty  as  her  convenience  would 
afford. 

The  day  following  my  return  I  was  engaged  in  my 
little  business  as  secretary,  when  there  was  handed  to 
me  the  card  of  Mr.  Jerry  Waters,  who  desired  to  see 
me  for  a  few  minutes. 

"Representing  the  Daily  Whirl,  Mr.  Cameron,'*  said 
he,  upon  his  being  admitted. 

"I  am  glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Waters,"  I  replied. 

"I  trust  Mr.  Cameron  doesn't  object  to  giving  the 
Whirl  a  few  words  on  a  subject  of  some  interest." 

"Not  at  all,  Mr.  Waters,"  said  I.  "In  these  days 
the  press  has  always  primary  importance  among  busi 
ness  men,  and  scholars  also." 

That  I  looked  forward  with  pleasure  to  my  being 
quoted  in  an  interview  was  now  as  plain  as  day  to  this 
young  man,  who  had,  all  the  while,  eyed  me  very 
keenly. 

' 'Why,  of  course,  that's  exactly  the  way  our  principal 
people  look  on  the  newspapers,  You've  hit  it  exactly, 
Mr.  Cameron,  hit  it  exactly." 

125 


126  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

With  this,  he  noted  in  his  memorandum  my  pro 
found  observation  as  if  I  had  uttered  something  the 
town  was  not  to  lose,  and  the  credit  of  disseminating 
which  should  belong  only  to  the  Whirl. 

What  I  should  have  done  was  to  ask  the  fellow  his 
business  at  once.  Instead  of  doing  so,  I  leaned  back 
with  much  self-content  as  a  man  bored  indeed  by  this 
sort  of  thing,  but  quite  indulgent,  you  know,  quite  in 
dulgent.  The  reporter,  for  his  part  seeing  he  could 
probably  extract  what  he  desired  without  naming  his 
object,  then  proceeded  with  great  volubility. 

"You've  been  private  secretary  and,  I  may  say,  a  sort 
of  private  adviser  to  the  Oldworth  estate  for  some  time, 
Mr.  Cameron." 

"Yes,  for  some  months,  though  naturally  I  have  not 
laid  aside  my  literary  studies  which " 

"Yes,  so  I  understand,  a  great  reader,"  he  exclaimed, 
leading  my  vanity  on.  "We  newspaper  men,  you  know, 
are  well  advised  about  all  our  prominent  persons,  and 
we  hope  you'll  give  something  to  the  public  of  a  per 
manent  literary  sort.  In  fact,  that's  what  I  came  to 
see  you  upon  to-day." 

Here  my  proud  fancy  flattered  itself  that  this  lively 
lad  had  come  to  get  my  opinions  on  books  and  litera 
ture,  and  that,  as  private  secretary  in  so  prominent  a 
family,  I  had  become  known  about  town  already.  I 
accordingly  replied,  with  much  affectation  of  self- 
depreciation  : 

"Oh,  I  don't  estimate  my  little  efforts  very  highly. 
I  am  reasonably  modest,  I  hope.  Still,  it  is  a  great 
satisfaction,  Mr.  Waters,  to  feel  that  one  has  in  him 
something,  you  know,  something " 

"Exactly.     I  understand,  Mr.  Cameron,  understand 


AN  ENTERPRISING  REPORTER    127 

you  exactly.  If  I  had  the  time  I'd  make  a  specialty  of 
literature  myself.  I  suppose,  by  the  way,  you  enjoyed 
the  opera  the  other  night." 

"I  love  music,  love  Wagner,"  I  responded. 

"Naturally.  Who  wouldn't,  Mr.  Cameron,  under 
such  circumstances?  In  the  Oldworth  family  box,  I 
believe?" 

"Yes,  we  were  all  there  that  night." 

"Let  me  see — Mrs.  Gordon  also,  I  believe?"  he  in 
quired,  innocently  enough. 

"Yes,  and  the  Ransoms,  friends  of  Mrs.  Oldworth. 
You  know  the  family  name,  I  suppose." 

"Yes,  very  well,"  he  answered,  and  then  beguiled 
me  with  rhapsodies  on  the  opera,  always  setting  down 
in  his  notes  any  comments  of  mine  on  the  opera,  while 
not  taking  the  trouble  to  make  a  note  of  other  things 
which  he  really  wanted. 

"This  habit  of  eating  after  the  opera,"  he  remarked, 
"is  the  fashionable  thing  nowadays." 

"Yes,"  I  replied  as  one  blase,  "we  went  to  Sherry's 
the  other  night ;  though,  really,  eating  bores  me  at  that 
hour." 

"Besides,  it  generally  includes  wine,"  he  went  on, 
"and  that  means  indigestion  the  next  day." 

"Why,  yes.  For  instance,  we  had  some  the  other 
evening ;  for,  as  Horace  says :  'Siccis  omnia  nam 
dura/  " 

"Very  good !  An  apt  quotation !"  he  exclaimed, 
noting  it  down. 

The  fellow,  knowing  his  business  and  having  both 
youth  and  vanity  to  deal  with,  soon  had  from  me  all 
he  wanted,  left  me  the  best  pleased  victim  he  had  ever 
ruined,  swore  I  had  done  him  the  favour  of  his  life, 


128  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

and  so  lulled  me  as  to  his  real  designs  that  I  could 
hardly  sleep  with  impatience  to  see  my  name  in  the 
head-lines  the  next  morning.  Morning  came,  and  this 
is  what  I  saw : 

"TELLS  THE  WHOLE  STORY. 

ROW  BETWEEN  THE  TRIXY 

GORDONS  FULLY  CONFIRMED. 

YOUNG  CAMERON  TALKS  PLAINLY  TO 

THE  WHIRL. 

"Ever  since  the  Whirl's  exclusive  revelation  of  the  scandalous, 
"profligate,  and,  to  say  the  least,  eccentric  yachting  party  by  the 
"well-known  clubman,  Richard  Gordon,  and  his  celebrated  mon- 
"key  voyage,  society  has  been  on  the  alert  for  further  develop- 
"ments.  Curiosity  has  been  further  excited  by  persistent  rumours 
"of  something  unpleasantly  domestic.  These  rumours  have  re 
fused  to  down.  The  public  becoming  fully  convinced  that  every- 
"thing  was  not  harmonious  in  the  big  house  by  the  park,  on  ac- 
"count  of  the  incessant  excitement  among  the  servants  and  the 
"sudden  scattering  of  its  inmates  to  their  clubs  and  country 
"houses,  the  Whirl  determined  to  have  the  whole  affair  impar 
tially  investigated." 

It  then  proceeded  to  give  an  account  of  the  quarrel 
between  the  Gordons  at  the  breakfast  table,  an  account 
in  which  a  hundred  details  were  imagined,  and  every 
bad  feature  immensely  exaggerated.  The  only  circum 
stances  on  which  the  veracious  journal  was  doubtful 
were  whether  it  was  a  fork  or  a  knife  that  Trixy  had 
seized  in  her  rage,  or  whether  the  plate  she  threw  at 
her  husband  was  Delft  or  Wedgwood,  upon  which 
points,  being  careful  to  be  exact,  the  Whirl  would  not 
at  present  absolutely  inform  its  readers. 

All  this  was  bad,  but  the  accursed  print  then  turned 
to  me. 

"Mr.  Charles  Cameron  is  an  aesthetic  young  man,  with  little  to 
"do  except  to  keep  his  nails  in  order;  and  just  why  he  is  on  the 
"Oldworth  salary  list  has  never  been  clear,  or  satisfactorily  ex- 
"plained  to  a  good  many  people  in  the  inner  circles  of  exclusive 
"life,  as  all  the  usual  functions  of  their  private  secretary  are  taken 


rAN  ENTERPRISING  REPORTER    129 

"care  of  by  several  other  more  experienced  men.  Suspicion  has, 
"therefore,  pointed  for  some  time  to  the  unusual  interest  taken 
"in  this  faultless  youth  by  the  lovely  Trixy  Gordon,  who  is  gen- 
"erally  credited  with  having  got  him  the  place  in  her  relative's 
"house,  for  reasons  of  her  own." 

I  was  then  accused  of  having  passed  the  winter  in 
Florida  with  the  Trixy  Gordons,  and  of  having  played 
the  part  of  the  husband's  friend  in  order  to  be  near  the 
wife.  Then  it  went  on  : 

"  'All  that  occurred  the  night  of  the  opera,'  said  Mr.  Cameron, 
'  'was  that  I  accompanied  Mrs.  Oldworth's  party  to  Sherry's, 
'where  we  had  a  bottle  of  wine.  I  then  accompanied  Mrs.  Gor- 
'don  to  her  home,  as  Mr.  Gordon  was  not  with  us.' 

"Questioned  as  to  the  hour,  and  some  other  embarrassing 
'points,  Mr.  Cameron  became  evasive,  finally  availing  himself  of 
'the  privilege  usually  accorded  gentlemen  under  certain  circum- 
'stances." 

I  was  then  reported  as  having  been  at  Lenoxdale 
with  the  fair  Trixy,  and  was  described  as  hopelessly 
infatuated  with  her.  There  was  a  false  photograph  of 
me,  in  which  I  was  made  to  resemble  a  gambler. 

I  sat  in  helpless  bewilderment.  I  turned  the  villain 
ous  print  over  two  or  three  times  in  a  faint  hope  that 
it  was  all  a  mistake.  Then,  with  the  loss  of  my  place 
before  me,  as  well  as  the  deep  injury  to  Mrs.  Oldworth, 
I  tore  the  sheets  in  pieces,  and,  swearing  I  would  have 
immediate  revenge,  set  out  to  curse,  flog,  kick  and 
strangle  the  infernal  Jerry  Waters. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
CONSEQUENCES   OF   VANITY 

'T'HE  rage  I  was  in,  it  is  curious  to  reflect,  was  not 
*  because  newspapers  have  no  right  to  concern 
themselves  with  the  domestic  affairs  of  citizens  not  in 
public  life,  or  because  purely  private  scandals  ought,  in 
a  proper  condition  of  journalism,  to  be  considered  im 
possible  subjects  of  interview.  Such  is  the  effect  of 
custom,  even  when  wrong,  that  upon  this  score  I  felt  no 
grievance.  What  roused  me  was  that  I  had  been  men 
daciously  misquoted.  But,  more  deeply  still,  was  I 
stung  by  the  fact  that  the  fellow,  having  made  game 
of  me,  must  be  laughing  in  his  sleeve. 

It  was  not  until  I  had  made  three  calls  at  the  office 
of  the  Whirl  that  I  was  able  to  find  Mr.  Waters,  who, 
when  I  came  upon  him,  was  smoking  a  cigarette  and 
chatting  with  two  or  three  friends.  The  playful  mood 
they  were  in  added  to  my  rage. 

"Mr.  Waters,"  I  cried,  "a  word  or  two  with  you, 
please." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Cameron !  Just  the  man  I  was  looking  for 
— have  telephoned  your  house  three  times  since  morn- 
ing." 

"Just  step  aside  here,  if  you  please,"  I  replied.  "I 
want  to  talk  to  you  privately.' 

"Glad  to  talk  with  you  just  where  we  are,  Mr.  Cam- 

130 


CONSEQUENCES   OF   VANITY    131 

eron,"  responded  the  shrewd  fellow,  who,  with  his 
companions,  discerned  there  was  mischief  in  me.  "Now, 
as  1  was  saying,"  he  continued  glibly,  "the  city  editor 
has  played  you  and  me  the  damnedest  trick !  Wouldn't 
you  like  to  step  upstairs  ?  The  fellow  owes  us  both  an 
explanation." 

The  situations  are  few  from  which  impudence  can 
not  extricate  a  ready  liar.  I  was  actually  becoming 
willing  to  listen  to  him,  when,  perceiving  what  I 
deemed  a  knowing  wink  at  his  friends,  I  was  suddenly 
brought  back  to  such  an  uncontrollable  resentment  as 
to  deliver  him  two  blows  upon  the  head  with  a  force 
that  sent  him  to  the  tiles  on  the  floor.  These  strokes 
I  would  have  followed  with  a  more  thorough  drubbing 
had  I  not  immediately  received  from  one  of  his  com 
panions  a  hearty  salutation  on  the  cheek,  and  from 
another  a  still  more  painful  one  in  the  eye,  whereupon 
the  engagement,  as  military  critics  would  say,  becom 
ing  general,  the  office  resounded  with  scuffling  and 
blows.  Under  the  circumstances,  though,  I  was  con 
tent  to  retire  before  superior  forces,  all  being  lost  save 
honour,  as  I  had  three  good  pairs  of  fists  to  afford  my 
face  a  thorough  massage.  Indeed,  it  would  have  gone 
exceedingly  hard  with  me  if  some  persons  in  authority 
had  not  put  an  end  to  the  affray  with  all  those  hearty 
oaths  in  which  our  countrymen  usually  restore  the  pub 
lic  peace. 

Not  dissatisfied  about  my  prowess,  but  with  a  sore 
head,  I  returned  home  as  quickly  as  possible  and  dis 
patched  at  once  this  note  to  Mrs.  Oldworth : 

MY  DEAR  MRS.  OLDWORTH  :  You  will  be  pleased  to  know  that 
I  have  to-day  given  a  good  beating  to  the  scurrilous  reporter 
whose  article  in  the  Whirl  has  so  villainously  libelled  your  family, 


132  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

and  misrepresented  as  well  as  misquoted  me.    My  hands  are  too 
sore  from  the  good  use  I  have  made  of  them  to  write  further. 

With  your  permission,  I  shall  remain  here  a  day  or  two,  as  I 
am  trying  to  avoid  arrest  by  the  miserable  poltroon  who  was 
saved  by  his  friends  from  a  severer  castigation. 

The  next  morning  a  servant  had  the  kindness,  under 
the  pretence  of  keeping  me  advised,  to  bring  me  a  copy 
of  the  Whirl,  in  which,  to  my  torment,  I  read  as  fol 
lows,  beneath  a  large  picture  portraying  a  scuffle  like  a 
bar-room  brawl : 

"GETS  THRASHED  BESIDES. 

THE    TRIXY    GORDON-OLDWORTH'S     CAMERON    AS 
SAULTS   A   WHIRL  REPORTER  AND  RECEIVES 
A  COMPLETE  DRUBBING." 

Such  were  the  headlines.  The  account  began  as 
follows : 

"Maddened  by  the  Whirl's  expose  of  his  pretty  connection  with 
"the  family  in  Millionaires'  Row,  Mr.  Charles  Cameron  yesterday 
"afternoon  conceived  the  idea  of  recommending  himself  to  his 
"employers  by  ambushing  Mr.  Jerry  Waters,  whose  brilliant  work 
"in  these  columns  has  recently  been  the  talk  of  clubdom.  By  a 
"cowardly  assault  when  Mr.  Waters'  back  was  turned,  the  aes- 
"thetic  parasite  gained  a  momentary  advantage  over  the  former, 
"who,  however,  recovered  himself  so  quickly  that,  had  it  not  been 
"for  the  interference  of  his  friends,  he  would  have  made  it  im- 
"possible  for  his  assailant  to  earn  his  wages  for  a  month.  As  it 
"was,  young  Cameron  received  a  thorough  mauling,"  etc.,  etc. 

In  misery  over  this,  I  received  that  night  a  note  from 
Mrs.  Oldworth,  to  whom  some  kind  friend  had  doubt 
less  hurried  to  show  these  publications. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  CAMERON  :  Thank  you  very  much  for  your  per 
sonally  resenting  such  outrageous  treatment.  I  cannot,  however, 
refrain  from  feeling  that  you  were  a  little  indiscreet.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  it  is  quite  plain  that  your  very  pleasant  services  must 
end.  Do  not  misunderstand  me,  Mr.  Cameron.  You  are  not 
wholly  to  blame.  That  I  know  very  well.  Still,  I  can  do  no  less. 

I  beg  you  will  accept  this  check  for  $100.  I  hope  I  shall  always 
be  counted  among  your  friends. 


CONSEQUENCES   OF   VANITY    133 

To  quit  the  Oldworths,  to  find  lodgings,  and  to  cast 
about  for  some  new  employment  was  my  first  business, 
but  one  thing,  above  all,  was  necessary  to  my  peace  of 
mind — to  see  Betty. 

Should  I  telephone  or  send  a  note?  Neither,  I  was 
sure.  I  must  see  her,  talk  with  her,  nothing  less,  im 
mediately,  too.  I  had  the  courage  to  go  at  once  to  her 
home,  where  I  chanced  to  meet  her  between  the  house 
and  the  carriage,  alone. 

"Miss  Betty,"  I  cried,  "just " 

"Mr.  Cameron,"  she  replied,  trying  to  look  me  boldly 
in  the  face  and  very  poorly  succeeding,  "please  don't. 
You  know  what  my  parents  think  of  all  this.  I — I  am 
afraid — I  must  be  plain.  I  am  not  to  see  you  any 


more." 


At  this  moment,  her  mother  appearing,  the  inter 
view  was  at  an  end. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
I    QUIT    NEW   YORK 

OUCH  was  my  humiliation  that  I  resolved  to  quit 
^  the  town  at  once,  and,  longing  for  a  chance,  I 
found,  as  luck  would  have  it,  that  there  had  arrived 
the  other  man  to  whom  my  uncle  had  given  me  a  letter 
of  introduction.  This  gentleman,  though  he  had  noth 
ing  for  my  services  himself,  referred  me  to  a  friend  of 
his  named  Bunt,  whose  home  was  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
The  latter,  though  he  had  a  very  quiet  manner,  was,  in 
truth,  thoroughly  possessed  of  those  arts  by  which  an 
impression  is  made  above  one's  real  account,  and  people 
made  use  of  in  spite  of  themselves.  Always  affecting 
reticence,  nor  ever  saying  outright  that  he  had  a  dollar, 
he  would  still  contrive  to  leave  you  certain  he  had 
millions. 

Of  some  fortune  he  surely  was  possessed  at  that 
time,  so  he  did  not  then  lack  funds  to  exploit  mankind. 
Contrary  to  the  custom  of  Western  men,  he  brought 
along  a  valet  and  a  physician,  his  wife  a  maid,  and  his 
child  a  governess.  His  tips  were  so  notorious  that  his 
entrance  into  a  hotel  or  the  mere  shifting  of  his  body 
was  enough  to  set  in  motion  every  flunky  within  sight. 
The  press  he  manipulated  skilfully,  being  always  able 
to  be  interviewed  while  affecting  to  dodge  so  much 
annoyance. 

134 


I    QUIT    NEW    YORK  135 

Upon  his  receiving  me,  he  advised  me  that  I  must 
expect  little  from  so  modest  a  fortune  as  his,  which, 
though  enough  to  satisfy  a  contented  investor  like  him 
self,  was  probably  over-reckoned  by  a  number  of  mil 
lionaire  friends.  Knowing  I  was  apt  to  repeat  whatever 
he  let  fall,  he  hinted  at  mines,  street  railways,  a  news 
paper,  and  the  Lord  knows  what  else,  while  severally 
smiling  them  down  to  nothing.  In  short,  I  was  quite 
confident  we  had  here  the  true  sort  of  riches,  so  I  was 
deeply  pleased  when,  upon  my  saying  that  I  longed  to 
try  my  fortune  in  the  West,  he  drew  out  his  cheque 
book  and,  scribbling  two  hundred  dollars  in  my  favour, 
declared  I  should  proceed  to  the  Pacific  Cpast  at  once. 

"You  will  find  a  telegram  there,  instructing  my  sec 
retary  to  put  you  to  some  pleasant  business  immedi 
ately.  Letters  I  don't  write,  my  boy.  My  correspond 
ence  is  wholly  by  wire." 

Thanking  him  profusely  and  losing  not  an  hour  in 
preparation,  I  was  on  the  train  within  two  days,  and 
within  five  more  at  my  destination,  an  ambitious  sea 
board  city  which  at  that  juncture  was,  though  I  could 
not  see  it,  about  to  decline  into  one  of  those  stages  of 
depression  which  frequently  recur  in  new  communities. 
There  I  was  put  to  some  trifling  work  until  the  return 
of  Bunt,  who  soon  afterwards  had  two  or  three  pleas 
ant  talks  with  me,  and  finally,  having  intimated  what 
I  could  do,  assigned  to  me  the  preparation  of  articles 
to  be  published  under  the  name  of  "Visitor"  communi 
cations,  reflecting  the  sanguine  opinions  of  Bunt  on 
that  glorious  region.  These  letters  were  naturally  not 
cooled  by  my  style  or  sobered  by  my  experience. 

"Young  man,"  said  Bunt  one  day,  "you  have  talent, 
and  I  find  I  made  no  mistake  in  binding  you  to  me  by 


136  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

trusting  you  implicitly.  Trust  a  young  fellow  deeply, 
and  you  either  lose  him  quickly  or  get  him  forever. 
Now  I'm  going  to  advance  you  a  notch.  I'm  going  to 
give  you  business  a  trifle  more  delicate,  a  sort  of  diplo 
matic  function." 

At  this  I  listened  quite  breathlessly,  while  he  com 
pressed  his  lips  and  looked  thoughtful. 

"A  man  in  my  position,  supposing  that  to  amount  to 
something,  must,  Cameron,  do  everything  in  his  power 
to  advance  the  community  in  which  he  has  accumu 
lated — well,  no  matter  what  sum.  He  owes  it  to  them 
not  to  leave  them  with  his  winnings  because  he  has 
enough,  but  to  help  them  even  after  he  longs  to  re 
treat." 

"Indeed  he  does,  Mr.  Bunt,"  I  replied.  "This  city 
would  be  depressed,  to  say  the  least,  if  you  should  even 
mention  retirement  or  travel." 

"Yes,  I  fear  so,"  he  said,  as  if  weary  of  millions, 
when,  in  point  of  fact,  he  was  approaching  insolvency. 
"Yes,  I  must  remain  in  harness,  like  an  old  horse,  for 
their  sake.  No  matter,  no  matter.  Now,  one  of  the 
ways  in  which  I  can  be  useful  is  the  inducing  of 
wealthy  Eastern  men  to  invest  their  money  here.  Per 
sonally,  I  will  not — no,  I  will  not — talk  to  our  moneyed 
visitors  to  that  purpose.  If  they  choose  to  approach 
me  for  advice,  I  feel  it  a  friendly  duty  to  give  that  ad 
vice.  That  is  a  different  thing.  Now,  I  will  tell  you 
of  one  or  two  little  enterprises  here,  which  you  can 
mention  to  advantage  to  some  Eastern  gentlemen  at 
present  in  the  city,  among  them  old  Judge  Cute,  by 
remarking,  we  will  say,  how  much  people  here  are  de 
sirous  of  getting  that  stock.  If  he  talks,  you  may  ex 
press  surprise  that  Mr.  Bunt  has  not  mentioned  so  fine 


I    QUIT    NEW   YORK  137 

a  property  to  him.  That  may  interest  him.  Of1  course, 
I  would  not  part  with  a  dollar  of  my  stock  in  these 
companies — heavens !  no — but  between  you  and  me  I 
am  going  to  force  one  or  two  of  my  associates  to  sell 
some  of  theirs  to  these  Eastern  gentlemen.  This  in 
strict  and  particular  confidence." 

Feeling  much  flattered  to  receive  a  commission  in 
which,  without  my  knowledge,  he  was  employing  sev 
eral  others  more  capable  than  myself,  I  listened  eagerly 
to  his  description  of  these  enterprises,  together  with 
the  business  arrangements  in  favour  of  them,  and  with 
little  loss  of  time  I  contrived  to  add  my  mite  to  what 
may  be  called  the  atmosphere  surrounding  Judge  Cute. 
This  agreeable  old  gentleman  nodded  so  pleasantly  to 
my  intimations  that  I  was  able  to  assure  Bunt  that  the 
old  capitalist  surely  adored  this  sort  of  investment. 

"I  think  so,  Cameron,"  he  replied,  "and  when  the 
plant  is  in  operation,  remember,  there  is  something  bet 
ter  for  you  in  store." 

It  was  only  a  few  evenings  after  this  that  Bunt,  con 
ceiving  from  his  various  cooks  that  the  bird  was  ready 
to  serve,  entertained  Cute  at  his  summer  home,  a  beau 
tifully  situated  cottage  from  which  could  be  seen  the 
rising  walls  of  the  new  enterprise.  Wine  and  cigars 
were  passed  to  the  guest,  who  casually  remarked  the 
progress  of  the  plant.  This,  it  was  clear,  was  the  right 
moment. 

"Yes.  By  the  way,  Judge/'  said  Bunt,  indifferently, 
"there  is  a  great  project." 

"So  they  tell  me,"  the  Judge  responded. 

"Yes,  a  great  project,  in  which  I  have  a  trifling  in 
terest  myself." 


138  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

"So  I  was  glad  to  hear,"  answered  the  Judge,  "and 
I  confess  I  have  been  looking  into  it  a  bit." 

"Indeed !"  Bunt  exclaimed.  "I  think  so  much  of  the 
thing  I  wouldn't  part  with  a  dollar's  worth  of  it  on  any 
account." 

"Perhaps  I  could  induce  you  to  think  twice  about 
that,  Mr.  Bunt,"  said  the  Judge,  "for,  you  know,  I've 
had  experience  in  plants  of  this  kind." 

"No,  you  could  not  get  a  dollar's  worth  of  my  hold 
ing,  my  dear  fellow,"  replied  Bunt,  pleased  with  this 
favourable  symptom,  "but  let  me  be  serious,  Judge. 
Men  like  you  are  a  necessity  here.  We  must  have  you. 
We  can't  develop  without  you.  Some  sacrifice  must 
be  made  to  secure  you,  and,  having  in  mind  a  personal 
friend  who  holds  fifty  thousand  dollars'  worth,  I  am 
going  to  force  him  to  let  it  go  to  you — going  to  force 
him,  I  say." 

"My  dear  Mr.  Bunt,"  replied  the  old  Judge,  "I  am 
glad  to  hear  you  remark  that  your  own  interest  in  this 
undertaking  is  only  trifling;  for,  having  examined  it 
carefully  already,  I  can  assure  you  in  a  confidential 
way  that  I  wouldn't  give  you  fifty  cents  for  the  whole 
thing." 

This  unexpected  reply  leaving  a  very  bad  taste  in 
Bunt's  mouth,  he  covered  his  confusion  in  the  best  way 
possible  and  dedicated  himself,  for  he  was  very  vin 
dictive,  to  some  revenge  in  business,  being  additionally 
stimulated  to  this  by  the  fact  that  the  old  Judge  had 
already,  at  his  instance,  been  permitted  to  acquire,  at  a 
very  low  cost,  a  considerable  interest  in  certain  mines 
that  had  lately  taken  a  most  promising  value  from  a 
chance,  suddenly  occurring,  to  sell  them  to  a  multi 
millionaire  in  New  York.  Indeed,  within  a  fortnight 


I    QUIT    NEW   YORK  139 

this  latter  sale  took  a  definite  turn.  The  New  Yorker 
was  willing  to  buy  a  majority  of  the  shares  at  a  con 
siderable  price,  and  as  this  purchase  would  naturally 
make  the  rest  more  valuable,  it  was  considered  that 
whoever  parted  with  his  shares  to  the  New  Yorker 
would  make  a  sacrifice.  Under  these  circumstances 
Bunt  took  delight  in  inducing  the  Judge  to  dispose  of 
the  whole  of  his,  even  telling  the  latter  outright  in  a 
meeting  that  this  was,  on  his  part,  little  less  than  an 
obligation,  to  all  of  which,  much  to  everybody's  sur 
prise,  the  Judge  assented.  But  the  result  of  it  all 
was  very  amusing;  for  by  this  sale  the  Judge  made  a 
profit  of  a  large  sum,  while  Bunt  and  the  others,  to 
their  dismay,  saw  the  market  value  of  the  shares,  from 
some  unexpected  bad  reports  concerning  the  mines, 
almost  immediately  fall.  In  fact,  things  fell  into  so  bad 
a  way  with  my  employer  that  within  two  weeks  he  was 
in  such  dire  straits  that  I  could  see  he  would  hardly 
weather  the  gale,  and  within  a  month  later  he  quitted 
the  place  for  China. 

Before  this  occurred  I  had  cast  about  somewhat  for 
an  anchorage,  with  the  success  of  becoming  secretary 
to  one  Ball  Schurz,  who  was  very  high  in  the  service 
of  one  of  the  railways.  This  interesting  gentleman, 
though,  I  was  not  destined  to  experience  long,  for  even 
had  I  had  the  patience  to  endure  his  ungovernable  tem 
per,  I  was  destined  to  outlive  him  at  too  early  a  date. 
Having  stolen  from  the  company  a  staggering  sum, 
which  he  had  been  squandering  in  various  enterprises, 
in  wasteful  living,  and  upon  an  actress,  the  fellow  sur 
prised  us  all  by  blowing  his  brains  out  one  charming 
morning,  leaving  us  to  find  him  in  bed  with  a  novel 
in  one  hand  and  the  revolver  in  another,  after  an  ex- 


140  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

cellent  dinner  in  those  very  apartments  the  night  be 
fore  with  a  company  of  friends  not  a  whit  more  gay 
than  himself.  Nothing  that  I  had  seen  in  his  life 
showed  quite  so  much  judgment  as  his  death;  though, 
as  he  was  a  man  of  artistic  tastes,  I  wonder  he  did  not 
get  rid  of  himself  without  the  shedding  of  his  blood, 
which,  in  these  occurrences,  appears  to  me  to  be  always 
unnecessary  and  untidy. 

From  this  speedy  succession  of  employers  I  began  to 
learn  the  migratory  nature  of  Western  financiers,  and, 
as  one  of  them  had  gone  to  China  and  the  other,  as 
appears  reasonable,  to  hell,  I  grew  discouraged  and  of 
a  sudden,  with  such  means  as  I  had,  set  out  on  a  return 
to  New  York. 


CHAPTER  XXX 
MY   RETURN   TO    NEW   YORK 

DEFORE  returning  I  remembered  Senator  Baxom's 
^  great  cordiality,  so  I  telegraphed  him  to  answer 
whether  he  could  get  me  some  kind  of  a  place  at  once, 
and  you  may  imagine  my  delight  when  he  replied  that 
if  I  could  come  by  the  next  train  he  could  offer  me 
something  pretty  good.  As  he  took  the  trouble  to  add 
the  utmost  urgency  to  the  message,  I  hurried  as  fast  as  I 
could,  and  at  best  it  required  four  days  to  reach  Toledo, 
Ohio. 

I  found  him  in  a  very  ill  humour,  by  reason  of  a  dis 
agreement  between  a  carpenter  and  a  plumber  at  work 
repairing  his  house.  It  appeared  that  the  plumber,  who 
had  ripped  up  some  of  the  floor  to  do  his  own  job,  had 
ventured,  in  re-laying  it,  to  drive  a  nail  or  two,  and 
this  being  noticed  by  the  carpenter,  the  latter  grew  very 
warm.  Let  the  plumber,  he  declared,  drive  another 
nail,  it  would  be  a  non-union  stroke,  since  the  plumber, 
though  a  member  of  the  plumbers'  union,  was  neither 
carpenter  himself  nor  member  of  the  carpenters*  union. 
To  this  the  plumber  replied  that  the  carpenter  was  a 
tainted  member  of  his  union,  because  the  very  saw  he 
had  in  his  hand  had  come  from  a  factory  two  thousand 
miles  away,  where  they  had  three  non-union  men, 
whose  presence  polluted  saws  by  the  thousand.  This 

141 


142  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

taunt  exasperating  the  carpenter  still  more,  he  would 
argue  the  matter  no  longer,  he  declared,  but,  by  leaving 
the  house  with  his  kit  of  tools,  put  a  stop  to  every  saw 
and  hammer  between  the  two  oceans,  or  leave  plumbers' 
babies  to  starve  from  New  York  to  Seattle.  Here  the 
Senator  came  upon  the  pair  and  begged  the  plumber 
to  desist,  which  he  did  by  quitting  the  house  altogether. 
Nor  was  the  carpenter  satisfied  until  the  nails  driven 
by  the  other  were  pulled  out,  vowing  it  was  a  question 
in  his  own  mind  whether  he  was  doing  his  duty  by  his 
own  union  to  remain  even  then,  as  the  building  was 
doubtfully  cured  of  the  recent  contamination. 

The  Senator  had  scarcely  overcome  his  rage  when  I 
addressed  him,  but  he  was  nevertheless  very  kind,  while 
he  swore  under  his  breath,  like  a  good  politician,  at  the 
unreasonableness  of  these  people. 

"You  are  too  late,  though,  Cameron,"  said  he.  "Some 
friends  of  mine  had  a  pretty  little  bit  of  work  for  you, 
but  they  would  not  wait  a  day  longer.  I'll  find  you 
something  else.  I'm  glad,  though,  you're  hefe.  I  heard 
something  that  will  interest  you.  There  turned  up  here 
the  other  day  a  man  answering  an  advertisement  of 
mine  for  a  footman.  Now,  this  fellow,  when  I  asked 
him  for  references,  mentioned  old  Cameron  of  Albany. 
He  had  left  there  after  a  row  with  the  housekeeper,  so 
he  was  anxious  to  talk  and  I  gave  him  a  chance." 

"This  is  interesting,  Senator/'  said  I. 

"Decidedly,"  continued  the  Senator.  "Cameron, 
after  making  allowances  for  servants'  lies,  I  think  that 
uncle  of  yours  is  the  worst  old  sinner  with  women  on 
this  continent — an  affair  with  his  housekeeper,  crazy 
after  manicure  and  ballet  girls,  and  following  Lillian 
Evanson  in  New  York.  Lively!  But  what  I  wish  to 


MY   RETURN    TO    NEW    YORK    143 

say  is  this :  This  flunky  swears  that  several  years  ago 
the  old  fellow  made  a  will  with  you  in  it  as  heir." 

"What !"  I  cried,    "Where  is  this  man  ?" 

"Hang  it !"  replied  the  Senator,  "the  scoundrel  left 
me  the  second  day — drunk,  I  suppose — all  of  a  sudden, 
and  nobody  seems  to  know  where  he  went." 

"But  his  name,  Senator?" 

"Let  me  see — John  Conners,  yes,  Conners.  I'll  have 
him  traced  a  bit,  Cameron.  The  fact  is,  I  didn't  pay 
much  attention  to  his  talk.  Perhaps  it  ought  to  be  fol 
lowed  up." 

After  some  conference  I  decided  to  proceed  to  New 
York  while  awaiting  what  news  he  could  send  me,  so 
by  the  next  day  I  was  again  on  Manhattan  Island. 

I  had  been  away  only  four  weeks,  and  I  speedily  re 
sumed  the  two  objects  uppermost  in  my  mind :  my  in 
heritance  and  Betty. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
TRIXY   FINDS   ME 

Senator's  story  concerning  the  man  Conners 
roused  my  interest  greatly.  I  attached  to  it  im 
mense  importance.  Instead  of  reflecting  on  my  uncle's 
present  dislike,  I  began  to  rely  upon  his  former  indif 
ference.  Instead  of  remembering  that  a  will  is  easily 
undone  by  the  execution  of  a  later,  I  preferred  to  think 
he  might  leave  things  as  they  were.  Instead  of  think 
ing  about  his  own  vow,  that  he  would  leave  me  noth 
ing,  I  kept  returning  to  the  remark  of  Maria  Dole  that 
I  was  his  heir,  though  I  knew  well  enough  that  the 
creature,  at  the  time  she  said  it,  probably  believed  other 
wise  and  was  merely  trying  to  make  me  serve  her  ends. 

I  resolved,  though,  to  make  a  business  of  learning 
everything  about  these  affairs.  My  first  errand,  after 
a  desperate  attempt  to  see  Betty,  would  be  an  interview 
with  Lillian. 

To  begin  with,  I  returned  to  Mrs.  Dobson's,  where 
I  was  pleased  to  find  a  new  boarder  in  Colby,  the  editor 
I  had  met  at  the  play  several  months  before.  As  this 
acquaintance  was  valuable  to  one  needing  employment, 
I  resolved  on  making  the  most  of  it.  He  was  a  distin 
guished-looking  man,  notwithstanding  a  wen  between 
his  eyes  made  you  think  of  St.  Evremond.  As  he 
lived  well  without  extravagance,  our  boarders  were 

%'44 


TRIXY   FINDS   ME  145 

sure  he  had  laid  by  a  good  deal  of  money;  as  he  had 
no  wife  nor  ever  was  seen  with  women,  they  suspected 
him  of  concealing  a  mistress ;  as  no  one  could  find  any 
thing  improper  in  his  behaviour,  they  intimated  there 
must  be  something  wrong,  or  he  would  not  be  so 
careful. 

The  afternoon  following  my  return  I  chanced,  while 
passing  a  theatre,  to  see  Betty  entering  with  some  other 
young  woman.  It  was  a  rare  piece  of  luck,  should  I 
be  able  to  get  a  word  with  her,  and  knowing  they  might 
be  for  a  moment  separated  while  possibly  leaving  their 
cloaks  in  the  coat-room,  I  followed  them  most  eagerly. 
Good  fortune  attended  me.  The  crowd  becoming 
greater  at  the  coat-room  door,  I  was  able  to  touch  her 
arm  while  her  companion  was  a  few  steps  in  advance. 

"Miss  Betty — a  moment — please,"  I  whispered. 

She  turned  pale,  then  red,  but  stopped. 

"There  is  something  I  must  explain,"  I  said. 

"I  have  not  asked  you  to  explain  anything,  Mr.  Cam 
eron,"  she  replied. 

"I  know  it,  I  know  it,  but  it  wasn't  true,  what  you 
overheard.  I  didn't  mean  what  I  told  that  woman." 

"I  never  dreamed,"  replied  the  sweet  girl,  "that  you 
would  tell  any  woman  what  was  untrue." 

My  face  grew  blood-red,  and  for  an  instant  there  was 
not  a  word  on  my  lips. 

"Let  me  move  on,  please,"  she  continued.  "I  sail 
with  mother  and  father  to  France  day  after  to-mor 
row.  Good-bye." 

As  her  voice  trembled,  I  could  not  abandon  hope, 
and  even  held  her  arm. 

"Miss  Betty,"  I  cried,  "if  you  will  give  me  one  min 
ute,  just  one  minute  to-morrow  at  the  old  place,  you 


146  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

know,  in  the  park,  I  can  make  it  all  as  plain  as  day.  I 
can " 

She  was  yielding,  it  was  clear,  but  as  she  half-raised 
her  eyes,  to  make  some  sort  of  reply,  we  were  inter 
rupted  by  a  voice  behind  us,  the  last  voice  on  earth  that 
ought  to  have  been  heard  in  such  a  precious  crisis. 

"Why,  here  you  are,  Mr.  Cameron,"  cried  Trixy 
Gordon.  "I  was  wondering  whether  you'd  be  here." 
This,  the  creature,  as  if  we  had  had  an  appointment. 

Too  surprised  to  speak  immediately,  I  turned  to  get 
rid  of  her  in  some  way  or  other,  but  it  was  a  fatal  inter 
ruption.  Betty  was  gone. 

Never  was  man  more  vexed. 

"Mrs.  Gordon,"  I  exclaimed,  "I  beg  your  pardon, 
but " 

"Now,  don't  make  a  fuss,"  she  replied,  peevishly, 
and,  worse  than  peevishly,  in  a  somewhat  maudlin  man 
ner,  such  as  let  me  see  at  once  she  had  been  drinking. 

"Come,  I've  changed  my  mind,"  she  continued,  while 
I  was  trying  to  get  control  of  my  temper.  "These  mati 
nees  are  stupid.  I'm  going  back  to  my  carriage.  Come. 
We  mustn't  be  seen  standing  here." 

"No,  nor  be  seen  going  to  your  carriage,  either,"  I 
replied. 

However,  she  had  no  logic,  the  wilful,  bad  little  crea 
ture,  so  it  was  common  prudence  to  seat  her  in  the 
vehicle,  which  was  closed.  Here  the  trouble  was  re 
newed  with  the  half-tipsy  beauty,  for  she  insisted  upon 
my  getting  in,  too,  or  she  would  remain  on  the  side 
walk  with  me. 

Only  a  gentleman  who  has  had  upon  his  hands  a 
reckless  married  woman  in  liquor  can  comprehend  these 
situations,  where  your  sole  way  to  get  out  of  a  scrape 


TRIXY    FINDS    ME  147 

is  to  remain  in  it  longer.  I  rode  with  her  two  hours, 
while  she  was  getting  over  her  excess. 

"That  little  goose,"  she  cried,  referring  to  Betty,  "is 
crazy  for  you.  I've  read  her  like  a  book.  Thank  the 
Lord!  Lillian  Evanson  knew  how  to  handle  you.  It 
would  be  better  for  us  women  if  we  had  some  of  that 
stage  training,  and  she  is  married  in  secret  to  your 
uncle !  I  suppose  you  know  that." 

"What !"  exclaimed  I.  "Who  told  you  such  a  thing?" 

"Oh,  now  you  listen  to  me,  don't  you  ?  But  what  do 
you  want  with  his  money?  You  can  have  mine — and 
me."  Saying  this,  she  fell  to  embracing  me. 

To  quarrel  with  her  was  useless.  It  was  easier  to 
comfort  her,  easier  to  swear  I  loved  her — a  mere  fib,  I 
trust  the  recording  angel  will  regard  it,  perhaps  even 
a  milder  perjury,  a  fibette,  if  I  may  coin  the  word.  But, 
whatever  it  was,  there  was  no  avoiding  it,  which  re 
minds  me  of  the  superior  virtue  of  people  reared  in  our 
religious  faith ;  for,  while  the  base  Hindus  and  Japa 
nese  are  given  to  lying  in  the  most  wasteful  manner,  we 
Christians  rarely  utter  a  lie  except  when  it  is  necessary. 

As  for  her  story  of  the  secret  marriage,  she  was  able 
to  give  me  tolerable  confirmation.  And  when  I  sug 
gested  against  it  the  regard  which  Lillian  was  supposed 
to  have  for  Alden,  the  pure-minded  matron  exclaimed : 

"Good  heavens!  you  don't  suppose  that's  any  ob 
stacle,  do  you?  She'll  have  Alden,  too.  What  do 
women  in  her  profession  care  for  the  marriage  vows  ?" 

On  one  point  she  afforded  me  a  new  idea,  for  when 
I  remarked  that  I  hardly  thought  Lillian  would  have 
conducted  herself  towards  me  with  such  cordiality  un 
der  all  the  circumstances,  Trixy  broke  out : 

"The  schemer  keeps  two  strings  to  her  bow.     She's 


148  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

after  that  fortune ;  so — mark  my  words — if  that  money 
slips  by  her  to  you  when  your  uncle  dies,  she  expects 
to  marry  you." 

It  was  near  night  when  I  set  her  down  at  her  door, 
but  she  was  sober  enough  then  to  excuse  me  without 
argument. 

Glad  to  be  alone,  I  could  think  of  nothing  except 
Betty,  and  this  news  about  Lillian  and  my  uncle,  two 
topics  which  alternately  raced  through  my  mind.  As 
to  my  uncle,  it  was  clear  his  marrying  would  annihilate 
the  reported  will,  either  in  law  or  from  practical  con 
sequence.  To  see  Lillian  immediately  and  to  get  from 
her  what  clues  I  could  was  the  first  business  in  my 
mind. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 
I  BECOME  A  REPORTER 

'T'HE  suspicious  are  not  always  bad,  but  the  bad  are 
*  always  suspicious.  The  very  next  day  I  received  a 
note  from  Trixy,  in  which,  with  infinite  recklessness, 
she  poured  forth  her  love  for  me,  only  to  conclude  in 
reproaches  concerning  my  supposed  love  for  Lillian.  I 
tore  her  note  in  pieces,  and  had  hardly  done  so  when 
Lillian,  calling  me  by  telephone,  informed  me  that  she 
would  like  to  see  me  the  next  morning  at  eleven,  an 
invitation  so  unusual  as  to  cause  me  considerable  specu 
lation. 

Promising  to  come,  I  resolved  to  make  one  last  effort 
to  see  Betty,  whose  steamer  would  sail  an  hour  hence. 
I  would  do  all  even  a  lover  could — I  would  hurry  to  the 
dock,  and  if  I  could  not  have  a  word,  I  could  at  least 
offer  her  the  argument  of  flowers. 

To  say  the  truth,  my  feelings  towards  this  gentle  lit 
tle  woman  were  now  taking  a  turn  more  delicate  than 
any  I  had  yet  experienced,  and  there  was  rising  in  my 
bosom  the  sincerest  passion  of  my  life.  In  her  depar 
ture,  if  I  had  not  already  the  pangs  of  a  forsaken  lover, 
I  keenly  felt  at  least  a  deeper  disappointment  than  that 
of  friend.  Indeed,  I  must  have  been  a  very  selfish  fel 
low  not  to  reflect  that  this  was  the  best  friend  Provi 
dence  had  thus  far  sent  me.  Without  a  mo- 

149 


ISO  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

ment's  delay  I  hurried  to  a  florist,  where  I 
spent  an  extravagant  sum  upon  flowers,  and 
with  these  in  great  haste  I  made  my  way  to  the  ship, 
none  too  soon,  either,  for  the  last  warnings  were  given 
as  I  placed  in  her  hands  those  perishable  offerings  that 
appeal  more  to  the  heart  of  woman,  with  their  eloquent 
fragrance,  than  the  splendour  of  precious  stones.  There 
was  not  time  or  opportunity  for  a  word  between  us.  I 
received  only  a  look  that  made  it  clear  she  loved  me, 
and  I  should  have  taken  courage  if  I  had  not  known 
how  much  a  nature  like  hers  would  feel  my  conduct 
with  Trixy. 

Returning  from  the  steamer  I  repaired  to  the  office 
of  Colby,  and  when  I  applied  to  him  for  some  kind  of 
a  position,  he  talked  to  me  in  a  very  sensible  way,  say 
ing  I  might  begin  at  once  as  a  reporter.  Journalism, 
he  added,  was  now  the  profession  that  had  most  influ 
ence  on  mankind.  The  day  of  clergy  was  largely  gone 
since  the  middle  ages,  nor  had  the  profession  of  law, 
which  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  had 
seemed  to  have  most  influence  in  the  world,  remained 
of  the  same  importance. 

"The  press,"  he  concluded,  "moves  everybody.  Ev 
erybody  is  afraid  of  it.  What  greater  proof  of  influ 
ence  is  there  than  the  dread  of  it  ?  At  this  moment  you, 
a  penniless  young  fellow,  would  have  difficulty  in  get 
ting  a  moment's  conversation  with  a  strange  business 
man  in  an  ordinary  commercial  house.  Take  this  pen 
cil,  though,  scribble  the  name  of  this  newspaper  on 
your  card,  and  the  king  of  Wall  Street  will  curse  his 
clerks  if  they  do  not  receive  you  with  open  arms.  Why? 
Because  you  can  ruin  them.  You  can  ruin  them  by  a 
lie  or  by  reckless  misstatement,  or  even  by  hinting  what 


I    BECOME   A    REPORTER        151 

you  dare  not  say,  since  their  very  efforts  to  set  the  world 
right  about  this  matter  only  serve  to  spread  the  error. 
In  short,  representing  this  newspaper  you  are  respect 
able,  because  you  have  power." 

With  such  talk  as  this,  which,  adding  to  my  feeling 
that  the  business  was  not  without  its  literary  side,  put 
me  in  the  proper  frame  of  mind  for  a  beginning,  he 
gave  me  what  he  called  an  assignment.  Then  he  intro 
duced  me  to  the  city  editors  and  to  two  or  three  re 
porters  who  happened  at  that  hour  to  be  at  hand. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 
FRIENDSHIP   WITH    OLCOTT 

\17ITH  one  of  these  reporters  I  sauntered  to  a  neigh 
bouring  drinking-place,  where  we  sat  down  at 
a  table.  Higgins,  as  he  was  named,  proceeded  to  give 
me  an  account  of  the  work  in  a  general  way,  as  well 
as  much  description  of  the  other  reporters  and  his  su 
periors  in  the  office. 

"Our  supposed  brightest  man,"  said  he,  "is  Preston 
Olcott.  Now,  I  like  Olcott,  but,  in  point  of  fact,  his 
work  at  times  is  too  coarse.  You  understand  me — he 
overdoes  the  thing.  His  treatment  of  the  Wilkison 
murder  was  too  flamboyant,  so  much  so  that  the  other 
papers  were  able  to  laugh  every  other  day.  Of  course, 
I'm  a  friend  of  Olcott's.  I  think  a  great  deal  of  the 
boy,  but  one  can't  help  noticing  these  things.  For  in 
stance,  his  interview  with  Senator  Platt  the  other  day 
was,  three-fourths  of  it,  clearly  a  dream,  and  hell  itself 
was  to  pay  the  next  day.  Of  course,  as  I  said,  I'm  a 
friend  of  Olcott's.  I  don't  know  why  they  continue  to 
give  him  these  choice  bits  of  work.  You  understand, 
though,  I  like  Olcott." 

By  this  time  I  conceived  a  desire  to  see  this  Olcott, 
who,  as  the  place  we  were  in  was  a  common  resort  of 
newspaper  men,  happened  just  then  to  come  in,  a  hand 
some  young  fellow,  little  older  than  myself,  and,  one 

152 


FRIENDSHIP   WITH   OLCOTT     153 

could  see  at  a  glance,  second  to  no  mortal  in  impudence 
and  enterprise.  We  immediately  became  friends. 

"Fill  these  glasses  again,  hang  it  all!"  exclaimed 
Olcott.  "When  I  meet  a  good  fellow,  I  like  to  cele 
brate  the  event." 

Not  suffering  me  to  pay  for  anything,  which  he  said 
would  cast  bad  luck  on  my  inauguration,  he  regaled  me 
with  liquor  and  good  stories.  He  related  how  he  had 
crouched  behind  an  ash-barrel  half  a  night  to  catch  a 
fellow  coming  out  of  a  house  he  had  no  business  to  be 
in,  and  how  he  had  been  invited  to  a  small  luncheon  on 
Fifth  Avenue  by  a  young  millionaire  who  wanted  to 
conciliate  him.  There  was  scarce  a  spot  in  Christen 
dom  the  fellow  had  not  visited,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  had  three  languages  with  glib  error  at  his  tongue's 
end. 

That  he  was  intensely  ambitious  was  as  plain  as  his 
capacity  to  get  on  in  the  world ;  so,  when  I  made  some 
remark  about  our  employment,  he  exclaimed : 

"Now,  don't  imagine,  my  young  friend,  that  your 
humble  servant  is  to  remain  a  mere  newspaper  man  all 
his  life.  No,  sir !  No,  sir!  This  world  is  full  of  good 
things,  and  some  of  them  are  mine.  I'll  never  be  satis 
fied  until  I  have  a  suite  of  offices  with  twenty  rooms, 
and  have  seen  my  flunkies  kick  a  millionaire  out  of 
every  one  of  them." 

Several  drinks  being  taken  during  this  talk,  I  began 
to  feel  enterprising  myself,  assuring  my  friends  I 
should  prove  a  veritable  Aretino,  the  scourge  of  the 
modern  kings  of  finance,  beginning  my  career  accord 
ing  to  Swift's  advice  to  a  young  poet,  "by  cutting  and 
slashing  and  laying  about  me  and  banging  mankind." 
This  spirit,  together  with  my  quotations,  produced  a 


154  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

good  effect  on  both  Higgins  and  Olcott,  who  thought 
still  better  of  me  when  they  learned  that  I  had  been 
private  secretary  in  the  great  Old  worth  family.  This 
last  caused  them  to  recall  the  affair  with  Jerry  Waters. 

"You  were  the  fellow,  then,  that  whipped  that  cad! 
Good !"  exclaimed  Higgins. 

"Oh,  Jerry's  not  a  bad  fellow,"  remarked  Olcott, 
"though,  you  understand,  I'm  glad  you  licked  him. 
Nearly  everybody  needs  a  beating  nowadays." 

"Well,  all  there  was  of  it,"  I  said,  carelessly,  "was 
that  I  just  walked  up  to  him  in  the  middle  of  his  gang, 
took  him  by  the  collar,  and  gave  him  two  or  three  good 
punches  that  laid  him  sprawling  on  the  floor  a  while. 
Of  course,  the  whelps  that  were  with  him  pounced  on 
me  like  a  lot  of  cowardly  curs,  but  I  had  no  trouble 
keeping  them  all  off.  A  scratch  or  two,  you  know,  that 
was  all." 

"First-rate,"  said  Olcott.  "Of  course,  Jerry's  paper 
gave  the  thing  a  good  dress  the  next  day  at  your  ex 
pense,  but  we  saw  through  that,  and  suspected  he'd  been 
thrashed.  Let's  move  on." 

Higgins  leaving  us,  Olcott  and  I  then  started  in  the 
direction  of  the  Bowery,  it  being  my  task  to  write  some 
account  of  the  humble  theatres  in  that  quarter;  and 
Olcott  vowing  it  was  his  duty  to  be  with  me  in  two  or 
three  at  the  outset.  The  first  we  entered  was  for  vaude 
ville  in  continuous  performance,  but  at  that  hour  there 
was  concluding  a  piece  in  twro  acts.  From  what  we 
could  guess  as  to  the  first  part  of  this  play,  a  Southern 
beauty,  having  long  been  troubled  about  some  mystery 
in  her  dead  mother's  career,  had  conceived  the  terrible 
suspicion  that  the  secret,  into  which  none  of  her  rela 
tives  would  let  her,  involved  a  trace  of  negro  blood. 


FRIENDSHIP    WITH    OLCOTT     155 

Very  soon  after  we  entered,  the  climax  was  reached, 
and  the  heroine,  informed  that  all  that  had  been  wrong 
in  her  mother  was  her  having  lived  in  adultery  apart 
from  her  husband,  fell  to  the  floor  in  a  swoon,  exclaim 
ing  :  "Thank  God !  Not  tainted  blood !" 

At  this  pretty  sentiment  we  could  hardly  forbear 
laughing  outright,  without  noticing  that  two  courte 
sans,  who  sat  immediately  in  front  of  us,  seemed  to 
applaud  it  vigorously. 

"I  should  think  she  would  feel  better!"  exclaimed 
one  of  these  nymphs. 

"Think  of  having  nigger  blood  in  you!"  said  the 
other. 

"Thank  God!  I  come  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and 
there  never  was  nothing  low  in  my  family,  like  that," 
remarked  the  first. 

"Nor  in  mine,  neither,"  added  her  friend,  "and, 
what's  more,  I  can  say  I  never  soiled  my  hands  with 
work  in  my  life." 

At  this  neither  of  us  could  longer  restrain  his  mirth, 
which,  attracting  the  notice  of  the  women,  immediately 
caused  them  to  turn  upon  us  in  wrath. 

"I'll  have  you  understand,  you  dirty  pups,  that  it's 
ladies  you're  making  game  of,  and  we'll  have  the  per- 
lice  take  you  by  the  collars  and  throw  you  in  the 
street." 

This  serving  to  increase  our  merriment,  their  rage 
became  loud,  whereupon  some  one  in  authority  ap 
peared  in  a  moment. 

"What's  this  noise  about?"  he  inquired.  "This  house 
is  run  for  ladies  and  gentlemen." 

"It's  that  pair  of  low  things  interfering  with  us,  that 
were  meddling  with  nobody  and  gave  our  money  to 


156  A   NICE   YOUNG  MAN 

this  house  for  decent  treatment,  with  their  swearing 
and  talking  fit  to  make  a  lady  sick  to  her  stomach." 

In  the  midst  of  these  volleys,  Olcott  and  myself  en 
deavoured  to  make  some  explanation,  which,  however, 
was  impossible  between  the  temper  of  the  ladies,  then 
on  their  feet  and  surrounded  by  a  crowd,  and  an  evi 
dent  dislike  taken  by  this  fellow  to  both  of  us.  With 
little  delay  he  seized  Olcott  by  the  body  and  began  to 
push  him  to  the  door,  when,  with  no  further  debate,  I 
knocked  him  into  the  lap  of  one  of  the  women,  a  fall 
which  at  once  produced  loud  screams  and  general  con 
fusion.  Others  falling  upon  us  with  cries  of  "Kill  them 
both!"  a  lively  engagement  followed.  However,  we 
were  lucky  enough  to  escape  without  a  mauling, 
and,  regaining  the  street  through  an  alley,  we  congrat 
ulated  each  other  in  a  succession  of  bumpers. 

"Cameron,"  cried  Olcott,  "you  are  the  man  we've 
needed  in  New  York.  You're  the  man  for  me." 

The  fellow  had  really  conceived  a  regard  for  me,  and 
of  this  he  at  once  gave  me  proof,  for  in  a  short  time  it 
was  seen  I  had  had  too  much  liquor  to  prepare  my  arti 
cle  that  night,  and,  to  save  me,  he  immediately  pledged 
himself  to  write  it  himself.  The  next  morning,  when 
I  awoke  with  an  aching  head,  I  saw  in  the  paper  an 
excellent  account  of  "Our  Bowery  Playhouses — How 
the  People  Are  Amused,"  nor  could  anything  in  that 
style  have  been  better  composed. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 
A   SHORT   INTERVIEW 

'"THIS  was  the  morning  of  my  appointment  with  Lil- 
*  Han,  nor  did  I  lose  a  moment  in  my  haste  to  keep 
it.  I  was  full  of  curiosity,  and,  moreover,  my  growing 
aspiration  to  Betty  whetted  my  interest  in  my  uncle's 
fortune,  which,  if  it  should  come  to  me  early,  might  so- 
much  recommend  me  in  the  eyes  of  her  parents. 

"My  dear  Charles,"  began  Lillian,  after  I  was  seated 
and  we  had  exchanged  the  compliments  of  the  morn 
ing,  "you  know  your  uncle  is  ill  at  Albany,  I  suppose." 

I  expressed  surprise. 

l"I  feared  you  might  not  be  aware  of  it,"  she  re 
turned,  "so  I  really  thought  it  my  duty  to  let  you 
know." 

"Thank  you,  Lillian,"  I  replied,  "but  it  seems  to  me 
if  he  be  ill,  it's  high  time  his  wife  were  there." 

"His  wife!"  she  exclaimed.  "Ah — you  mean  me? 
Nonsense !  I  swear,  Charles,  if  such  a  report  has  got 
ten  out,  there's  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it — not  a  syllable. 
Now,  Charles,  let's  be  sensible.  Please,  you  provoking 
fellow !  What  I  wish  to  tell  you  is  that  I'm  convinced 
old  Maria  Dole,  in  control  of  everything  up  there  at 
Albany,  is  going  to  ruin  you  as  heir,  and  you're  a  dear, 
good  friend  of  mine,  Charles.  She'll  destroy  his  will, 
now  see  if  she  doesn't." 


158  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Well,"  answered  I  with  a  smile,  "if  there's  no  will, 
Lillian,  everything  goes  to  your  humble  servant." 

"Ah !    Oh,  yes ;  of  course,"  said  Lillian,  with  a  blush. 

"Everybody  else,  including  one  ugly  and  one  beauti 
ful  acquaintance  of  mine,"  I  added,  "may  have  more 
to  lose  by  the  destruction  of  a  will  than  I  have.  Come 
now,  Lillian,  be  honest,  like  a  good  fellow.  It's  your 
self  you're  worrying  about." 

Lillian  broke  into  a  natural  laugh. 

"Yes,  Charles,"  said  she,  "you're  right.  I  was  look 
ing,  just  for  a  minute,  to  my  own  interests,  but  I'm 
not  scheming  to  rob  you ;  no,  Charles,  not  that.  Your 
uncle  seems  to  abhor  you,  as  you  know,  so  you  wouldn't 
be  sorry  if  I  got  something  where  you  can't.  But,  Lord 
bless  you !  dear  Charles,  what  does  it  all  matter  ?  Let 
the  Dole  woman  take  it  all  if  she  can." 

Dissenting  from  this  last,  I  promised  to  do  what  I 
could  to  discover  Maria's  purpose.  We  talked  longer, 
convinced,  as  I  already  was,  that  Lillian  was  party  to 
no  fraud,  but  as  to  what  her  actual  relations  with  my 
uncle  were  I  quitted  her  completely  without  hint. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 
OLCOTT   AND    HIS    SCHEMES 

VOUTH  is  the  only  season  of  true  friendship.  The 
attachments  of  later  years,  enjoyed  with  little  en 
thusiasm,  are  severed  with  little  pain,  nor  is  it  too  much 
to  say  that  no  great  sacrifice  was  ever  made  for  one  who 
was  not  reckoned  among  our  friends  before  we  were 
five-and-twenty.  Leaving  Lillian's  rooms,  I  went  to 
the  newspaper  office,  to  thank  Olcott,  to  whom  I  felt 
a  warm  desire  to  exchange  further  good  offices,  or  even 
to  be  knocked  on  the  head  in  the  cause  of  so  fine  a 
fellow. 

Nor  could  I  get  Betty  out  of  my  thoughts.  This 
sudden  going  to  Europe,  what  had  caused  it?  As  I 
have  already  said,  I  began  to  conceive  towards  this 
sweet  young  woman  the  regard  to  which  she  was  en 
titled,  both  by  merit  and  by  affection,  a  sentiment  that 
even  the  opposition  of  her  parents  to  me  had  not  been 
able  to  create,  being  now  called  into  existence  by  a  feel 
ing  that  I  had  lost  her.  Whatever  is  fairly  good  be 
comes  precious  when  it  is  taken  away,  notwithstanding 
we  should  not  have  thought  it  worth  pursuing  if  it  had 
never  been  our  own.  Betty,  I  felt,  had  been  mine,  and, 
though  formerly  not  mad  to  possess  her  myself,  I  now 
could  not  bear  the  thought  of  her  passing  to  another. 
Accordingly,  I  began,  in  seeking  causes  for  her  depar- 


i6o  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

ture,  to  wonder  whether  young  Catesby  had  anything 
to  do  with  it,  in  which  uneasiness  I  went  immediately 
to  the  steamship  office  and  found,  with  no  small  cha 
grin,  that  he  had  sailed  on  the  same  steamer.  Inas 
much  as,  to  Betty's  parents,  this  fellow  would  seem  a 
desirable  husband  for  her,  I  saw  her  charms  in  a  new 
light.  What  before  was  simple  now  appeared  elegant, 
her  modesty  rare. 

That  afternoon  I  found  Olcott  in  a  bad  humour, 
complaining  that  one  of  his  best  stories  had  been  killed, 
as  his  phrase  expressed  it,  by  the  advertising  depart 
ment  of  the  newspaper,  which  had  found  it  unprofitable 
to  expose  a  most  unlucky  affair  of  the  heart  between  a 
rich  old  merchant  and  the  wife  of  the  landlord  of  an 
uptown  hotel.  Better  work,  he  swore,  he  never  had 
done  since  he  became  a  reporter.  If  this  thing  hap 
pened  again,  he  would  accept  a  dazzling  offer  from  the 
Whirl.  Besides,  he  had  a  mind  to  get  into  some  other 
business. 

He  then  recounted  to  me  a  new  and  whimsical 
scheme  into  which  he  had  been  invited  by  persons  re 
quiring  the  assistance  of  the  press.  There  was  an  arm 
less  girl,  who,  having  lost  those  portions  of  her  body 
by  a  cruel  accident,  had  achieved  by  infinite  pains  ex 
traordinary  skill  with  her  feet.  It  was  now  proposed 
to  incorporate,  so  to  speak,  this  armless  wonder  as  the 
Sally  Sanders  Company,  sell  shares  as  a  special  favour 
to  a  few  persons,  and,  with  the  funds,  exploit  the  chari 
table  people  of  the  country.  For  this  purpose  much 
ingenious  but  pathetic  literature  would  be  circulated, 
describing  the  girl's  patient  life,  while  asking  such  tri 
fling  coins  as  could  be  mailed  back  in  a  card  devised  to 
hold  small  pieces  of  silver  or  gold.  There  were,  it  was 


OLCOTT   AND   HIS    SCHEMES    161 

reckoned,  seventy  million  people  in  the  country,  of 
whom  ten  million  negroes  need  not  be  counted,  to  begin 
with,  as  not  knowing  how  to  give  anything  if  they  had 
it,  and  five  million  whites  too  mean  to  give  anything 
though  they  knew  how.  Of  the  remaining  fifty-five 
millions  there  need  be  further  deducted  only  children 
below  the  age  of  seven  years,  since  in  this  enlightened 
country  all  above  that  age  could  not  only  read,  but 
would  have  something  to  bestow.  Nor  was  anything 
too  small  to  be  disdained  in  so  worthy  an  undertaking, 
which  was  to  allow  Sally  no  less  than  ten  per  cent,  of 
what  was  to  be  collected. 

The  young  were  to  be  caught  with  one  sort  of  pam 
phlet,  the  old  with  another.  Children  were  to  be  asked 
how  they  would  like  to  go  on  with  their  long  lives  like 
Sally,  while  men  and  women  would  be  made  to  feel  how 
much  harder  it  would  have  been  to  get  the  little  they 
had  if,  during  all  their  past  years,  their  feet  had  had 
to  do  the  work  of  their  hands.  Pictures  of  Sally  in 
outlandish  attitudes  accomplishing,  by  efforts  of  an 
acrobat,  what  a  child  could  do  with  its  thumb  and  fore 
finger  were  already  prepared.  Her  piety,  her  faith  in 
our  form  of  government,  her  services  to  her  indigent 
parents  with  every  toe  she  had  to  spare,  were  to  be  por 
trayed  in  print  and  illustration.  It  was  clear  that  if 
only  one  person  in  ten  gave  anything,  and  such  persons, 
on  an  average,  only  ten  cents,  there  was  a  fortune  in  the 
incorporation  of  Sally  Sanders. 

"And,  hang  me!"  exclaimed  Olcott,  "I'm  going  to 
have  some  of  her.  Do  you  want  some?" 

"What  will  a  little  cost?"  I  inquired. 

"Oh,  not  much,"  he  replied.  "Don't  let  the  money 
worry  you.  I'll  lend  it  to  you." 


162  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

He  then  explained  that  it  was  going  to  cost  him  lit 
tle,  as  the  promoters  relied  on  his  pen  in  preparing  the 
plaintive  pamphlets  for  Sally  to  sign,  as  well  as  his  in 
fluence  among  the  newspapers,  where  he  could  get  occa 
sional  good  accounts  of  Sally,  besides  suffocating  hos 
tile  inquiries.  The  purpose  of  the  company  was,  of 
course,  to  be  secret,  incorporated  as  the  Benevolent 
Company,  or  Home  Charity  Company.  The  capital 
would  be  small,  a  few  thousand  to  begin  the  mailing 
of  the  cards  and  the  hire  of  clerks,  who  should  keep 
lists  of  persons  and  see  that  no  giver  was  ever  ad 
dressed  a  second  time. 

Finding  that  Olcott's  share  was  not  very  large,  I  de 
clined  to  accept  a  division  on  any  terms,  though  grate 
ful  for  the  offer.  He  then  mentioned  an  opportunity 
for  a  good  bit  of  reporting  that  I  might  undertake  that 
evening. 

"Old  Senator  Baxom,"  said  he,  "has  just  come  to 
town  very  quietly  from  Washington.  With  this  Span 
ish  war  approaching,  an  interview  with  the  old  devil 
would  be  a  good  hit,  for  I  know  the  Whirl's  men  have 
tried  it  already,  and  failed.  I  have  in  hand  something 
else  to-day.  Why  don't  you  try  him  ?" 

"Senator  Baxom?"  I  cried.  "I  know  him.  I  met 
him  first  at  Mrs.  Oldworth's." 

"Then  get  the  old  fish  in  your  basket.  You  under 
stand,  he  and  the  President  are  very  close  now ;  he's  in 
schemes  with  the  President's  brother.  He's  here  in 
town  about  them,  I'll  bet." 

Without  further  loss  of  time  I  hurried  from  hotel  to 
hotel  and  from  club  to  club,  until  I  found  the  Senator. 
For  my  recent  troubles  he  was  very  sorry,  saying  in  a 


OLCOTT   AND    HIS    SCHEMES    163 

confidential  manner  that  some  of  the  young  matrons  in 
town  stood  in  need  of  a  cold  bath  and  bread  and  water. 

"There's  too  much  luxury  here,  my  boy;  a  terrible 
fever  to  get  money  and  to  spend  it,"  said  the  Senator, 
who  was  notorious  for  his  rapid  accumulations,  "and 
where  the  devil  it's  going  to  end  I  don't  see." 

When  I  informed  him  of  my  now  being  a  reporter, 
the  statesman  looked  apprehensive,  and  when  I  re 
quested  something  I  could  publish,  he  gave  me  no  hope. 
But,  as  he  was  really  kind-hearted,  he  listened  to  my 
plea  that  the  thing  would  do  me  good  service,  and  said : 

"I've  been  scaring  you  newspaper  men  away  like 
crows  all  day,  Mr.  Cameron,  but,  as  I've  taken  a  fancy 
to  you,  I'll  do  you  a  turn ;  but  you  understand  that  what 
I  tell  you,  you  are  supposed  to  learn  somewhere  else." 

He  then  gave  me  considerable  gossip  that  was  really 
new  concerning  affairs  in  Washington.  In  all  these  he 
himself  was  so  cunningly  connected  that  the  public 
could  not  fail  to  conceive  a  greater  opinion  of  his  influ 
ence,  while  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  one  to  trace 
the  subjects  to  him. 

"Now,"  he  said,  in  conclusion,  "this  will  please  that 
city  editor  of  yours  if  he  knows  his  business.  At  the 
same  time  you  are  to  add  substantially  as  follows: 
'Senator  Baxom  being  seen  on  this  matter  at  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel  to-day  was  very  indignant,  refused  to 
submit  to  an  interview,  and  denied  the  rumours  as  ut 
terly  without  foundation.'  You  understand,  Cameron, 
that  this  little  talk  of  ours  is  a  mark  of  personal  confi 
dence  in  you.  There's  a  way  of  doing  these  little  things 
so  that  nobody  is  the  worse  for  them.  Let  us  see  how 
well  you'll  do  this.  When  you  come  to  Washington, 
say,  next  fall,  after  a  good  summer's  training  here, 


164  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

come  and  see  me.  I  think  I  know  where  I  can  make 
you  very  useful.  And,  my  boy,  take  an  old  fellow's 
advice,  have  all  the  fun  you  can  with  the  women.  You 
wouldn't  be  worth  kicking  out  of  the  way  if  you  didn't. 
But  don't  let  anybody  find  it  out.  There's  no  money  in 
that,  no  money  in  that.  Attend  to  business,  my  boy, 
always.  I've  been  thinking  of  you  frequently  down  in 
Washington.  Cameron,  you're  going  to  do  well." 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 
OLCOTT'S  LOVE  AFFAIR 

JVA  Y  report  of  the  interview  with  Baxom  did  me 
**"  much  good,  to  which  success  I  added  several 
pieces  of  news  in  a  very  pleasant  vein.  That  I  had  a 
knack  of  writing  was  very  plain  to  myself,  as  well  as 
others,  so  all  that  was  necessary  was  that  the  city  editor 
should  educate  me  in  divining  what  is  really  news ;  that 
is  to  say,  what  the  public  is  interested  to  hear.  The 
tribulations  of  the  obscure  are  unimportant  unless  they 
are  uncommonly  queer;  but  the  slightest  incidents 
among  people  of  consequence  are  eagerly  read  by  every 
body  in  town.  I  soon  saw  that  whatever  is  reported 
concerning  a  man  of  doubtful  prominence  must  be  made 
acceptable  to  the  crowd  by  his  being  raised  a  trifle  in 
rank,  so  that,  if  he  be  only  a  modest  doctor,  he  is  de 
scribed  as  one  of  the  leading  physicians  of  the  city;  or, 
if  a  common  lawyer,  a  very  prominent  attorney.  Dis 
cord  between  an  ordinary  couple  of  some  means  is,  for 
this  purpose,  a  scandal  involving  one  of  our  most  fash 
ionable  families.  Riches  are  magnified  and  numbers 
multiplied,  not  because  editors  prefer  exaggeration,  but 
because  the  multitude  demand  it. 

Perceiving  in  two  or  three  weeks  I  had  made  a  good 
impression,  I  would  undoubtedly  have  reinforced  my 
self-conceit  had  not  Colby  talked  to  me  very  wisely  of 
the  long  experience  required  to  make  a  perfect  reporter. 

165 


1 66  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"You  are  certain  to  commit  some  bad  mistake,"  said 
he,  "so  be  on  your  guard,  for  I  can't  be  bound  to  say 
that  even  I  could  keep  you  in  your  place  if  others  should 
ever  insist  upon  dropping  you." 

This  talk  I  repeated  to  Olcott,  who,  though  he  con 
firmed  it,  declared  it  mattered  little  when  I  was  dis 
charged,  as  some  other  newspaper  would  take  me  up; 
besides  which,  he  reasoned,  the  occupation  was  too  poor 
for  any  man  of  sense  to  make  of  it  more  than  a  passing 
use. 

"You  can  get  some  useful  acquaintances  in  it,  and 
then  get  out  of  it  after  laying  up  a  deal  of  information 
about  everything  and  everybody  in  town.  Newspaper 
men  are  poorly  paid,  even  in  the  higher  ranks.  What 
editor  is  paid  as  highly  as  lawyers  and  physicians  are?" 

He  nowr  related  to  me  that  he  had  sold  his  shares  in 
the  Sally  Sanders  Company  at  a  good  profit,  feeling 
sure  that  the  fame  of  that  lady's  sorrows  would  become 
great  enough  to  invite  exposure,  which  would  render 
them  worthless. 

"But  now,  Cameron,"  said  he,  "I  have  something  to 
confide  in  you  that  I  will  want  you  to  assist  me  in.  I 
have  a  love  affair  on  my  hands.  I'm  going  to  marry 
a  certain  young  \voman,  or  know  the  reason  why. 
There's  a  rich  old  fellow  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  named 
Jenkinson,  and  he  has  a  daughter  in  school  here,  though 
he  has  just  taken  her  home  in  a  devil  of  a  hurry,  to 
avoid  your  humble  servant." 

"Is  she  pretty  ?    What's  her  name?"  I  inquired. 

"As  pretty  as  a  peach,"  he  replied;  "her  name  is 
Mary." 

"How  did  you  come  to  know  her?  Tell  me,"  I 
asked. 


OLCOTT'S    LOVE   AFFAIR         167 

"It's  no  long  story,"  said  he.  "One  day  I  went  to 
this  school,  a  private  one  on  Fifth  Avenue,  to  get  an 
account  of  a  scandal  that  had  happened  to  one  of  the 
pupils,  and  Mrs.  Gownly,  the  head  of  the  place,  to  sup 
press  the  facts  made  herself  specially  agreeable  to  me 
by  showing  me  the  entire  interior  and  equipment.  While 
we  were  at  this  I  happened  to  set  eyes  on  Mary,  and — 
well,  you  know,  men  in  our  business  don't  lack  ability 
to  make  the  most  of  an  opportunity.  I  gave  her  several 
glances  that  it  would  be  infernally  hard  to  translate,  but 
enough  to  show  a  sensible  girl  that  she  had  made  a 
palpable  hit,  and  I  can  tell  you,  old  man,  I  got  several 
as  good  as  I  gave." 

"What  was  Mrs.  Gownly  doing  during  this?" 
"Oh,  making  herself  agreeable,  frightened  to  death, 
of  course,  for  fear  I  should  either  discover  the  real 
facts  or  make  up  some  story  that  would  be  worse.  The 
old  goose  actually  introduced  me  to  Mary.  That  was 
my  chance.  In  a  minute  I  was  an  old  resident  of  Colum 
bus,  Ohio,  loved  the  State,  used  to  play  where  Mary 
was  born.  Did  Mary  catch  the  point?  In  a  second. 
Cameron,  it  was  wonderful  the  way  that  girl  helped 
me  play  my  hand,  answering  to  my  lead  as  quickly  as 
if  we  had  arranged  the  cards  beforehand.  'This  is  very 
charming,  this  incident/  says  the  old  duenna,  'and  I 
am  confident  will  assure  us  some  pleasant  words  from 
the  press/  'Correct,  madam/  said  I.  'Depend  on  me 
to  protect  this  house  from  the  reckless  gang  of  young 
fellows  our  papers  employ  nowadays.  I  will  throw 
all  of  them  off  the  scent  at  once  about  this  matter.  Of 
course  you  understand,  Mrs.  Gownly,  I'll  have  to  exert 
all  my  influence  to  quiet  our  own  office,  which  has  di 
rect  information  and  expects  facts/  'Thank  you  very 


1 68  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

much,  Mr.  Olcott,'  says  Mrs.  Gownly,  'though,  you 
understand,  there  is  absolutely  not  a  particle  of  founda 
tion  for  this  talk,  as  I  made  clear  to  you  in  the  begin 
ning.'  'Certainly,  ma'am/  said  I;  'you  may  depend 
on  my  taking  care  of  your  interests  successfully' — this 
as  if  I  were  a  power  in  journalism." 

Apologising  for  his  not  having  confided  all  this  to 
me  before,  Olcott  continued  his  story  by  adding  that, 
on  the  pretended  insistence  of  the  city  editor,  he  called 
a  second  time  during  a  recess,  in  which  he  knew  he 
should  have  a  chance  to  see  Mary  again.  As  there  is 
nothing  women  admire  more  in  men  than  that  bold 
ness  of  which  their  own  sex  has  so  little,  and  as  the 
fellow  had  a  very  pleasing  manner,  the  attraction  be 
came  mutual  enough  for  him  to  risk  passing  her  a  note. 
From  this  followed  a  meeting  during  the  next  half- 
holiday,  several  other  pretty  incidents  of  the  same  sort, 
a  clandestine  correspondence,  the  exchange  of  vows, 
and  all  the  pleasures  of  honourable,  yet  stolen,  love. 

However,  it  was  not  long  before  old  Jenkinson  and 
his  wife  got  wind  of  the  thing,  whereupon  the  girl  was 
recalled  to  her  home  without  delay,  a  note  being  sent 
by  the  father  to  Olcott  to  the  effect  that,  if  he  were 
caught  sneaking  about  Mary  again,  his  back  would 
have  to  pay  for  it.  The  effect  of  this  diplomatic  com 
munication  upon  both  the  lovers  may  be  imagined. 
From  that  time  either  would  have  died  at  the  stake 
rather  than  love  any  one  else.  The  girl,  for  her  part, 
regarding  her  rights  as  a  Western  young  woman  is 
apt  to  look  on  them,  gave  herself  up  to  sullen  defiance 
and  a  secret  correspondence  through  one  Laura  Gay, 
a  trustworthy  friend,  who  got  from  the  business  the 
pleasure  both  of  deceiving  Mary's  parents  and  of  be- 


OLCOTT'S    LOVE   AFFAIR         169 

traying  to  a  few  friends  the  secret  of  her  own  impor 
tant  services. 

These  transactions  having  continued  several  months, 
Olcott  was  now  in  great  alarm  through  a  letter  from 
Mary,  tearfully  advising  him  that,  unless  he  took  im 
mediately  some  steps  to  rescue  her,  she  could  find  no 
excuse  for  refusing  to  accompany  her  parents  to  Japan, 
as  they  were  about  to  close  their  house  without  leaving 
her  any  other  dwelling. 

"This  lead  calls  for  trumps,"  said  Olcott,  in  conclu 
sion,  "and  I  propose  to  play  them.  I  go  to  Columbus 
at  once,  you  with  me.  I'm  going  to  marry  Mary  Jen- 
kinson." 

As  nothing  could  have  been  more  ill  advised,  I  ap 
plauded  his  resolution  to  the  skies ;  for  when  does  youth 
stop  to  reckon  on  poverty,  short  acquaintance,  justice  to 
parents,  or  disparity  of  fortunes? 

"I  knew  you  would  look  on  it  that  way,"  he  said, 
grasping  my  hand.  "That  girl  has  been  suffering  the 
tortures  of  the  Inquisition  for  me.  She's  a  remarkable 
girl,  Cameron,  remarkable." 

He  then  explained  to  me  that,  knowing  not  a  soul 
in  Columbus,  he  was  sure  to  have  need  of  me  in  some 
degree  or  other,  as  there  was  no  saying  just  what  sort 
of  difficulties  he  might  encounter.  He  had  saved,  he 
said,  about  two  thousand  dollars,  so  he  felt  not  unpre 
pared  for  the  enterprise,  including  the  expense  of  tak 
ing  me  with  him,  a  disbursement,  however,  which  I 
swore  I  would  not  have  him  bear  for  anything  in  the 
world.  As  you  may  imagine,  nothing  could  possibly 
have  been  more  to  the  taste  of  two  young  men  than  this 
kind  of  an  adventure.  Indeed,  neither  of  us  could  sleep 
much  that  night  in  our  excitement.  After  arranging  to 


170  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

depart  the  next  day,  with  the  consent  of  the  city  editor, 
we  busied  ourselves  in  the  purchase  of  many  little  arti 
cles  of  apparel,  besides  a  diamond  ring  for  Mary.  We 
also  discussed  apartments  for  the  happy  pair;  Olcott 
being*  at  first  inclined  to  select  lodgings  for  her  at  once, 
furnish  them  extravagantly  and  delight  his  mate  with 
a  nest  as  good  as  the  one  she  left  behind,  a  folly  that 
would  have  rendered  him  well  nigh  penniless,  but  one 
which  he  would  undoubtedly  have  committed  had  we* 
not  concluded  that  the  pleasure  of  spending  money  for 
such  a  purpose  ought  to  be  left  to  the  bride.  In  his 
enthusiasm  he  declared  the  girl  should  have  as  fine  a 
home  as  her  father  had  afforded  her. 

"Confound  a  fellow,"  exclaimed  he,  "who  will  take 
a  girl  out  of  a  fine  house,  to  make  a  scullion  of  her!" 

After  such  expressions  we  were  sure  to  drink  the 
health  of  so  sublime  a  virgin  in  particular,  and  of 
American  girls  in  general,  a  species  which,  we  agreed, 
rendered  the  maidens  of  all  other  countries  contempti 
ble.  Confiding  in  him  my  growing  affection  for  Betty, 
I  was  reproached  for  having  kept  it  from  him  so  long ; 
but,  as  I  was  able  to  retaliate  about  his  silence  in  the 
present  business,  we  both  admitted  that  love  affairs  are 
delicate  things  to  mention  until  one  knows  he  is  suc 
cessful. 

That  we  should  succeed  in  our  errand  was  not  for  a 
moment  doubted.  Olcott  had,  notwithstanding  his 
youth,  seen  a  great  deal  of  the  world  as  a  newspaper 
correspondent,  had  made  his  way  by  his  wits  in  Europe, 
Mexico  and  Japan,  had  gotten  out  of  scrapes  repeatedly 
by  sheer  impudence  when  he  could  only  imperfectly 
speak  the  language  of  the  country,  and  was  accustomed 
to  regard  everything  as  attainable  by  him  who  had 


OLCOTT'S   LOVE   AFFAIR         171 

made  up  his  mind  to  have  it.  The  plan  was,  in  a  gen 
eral  way,  to  meet  Mary  at  the  house  of  Laura  Gay, 
but  if  this  were  prevented  by  the  vigilance  of  the  par 
ents,  or  any  other  accident,  we  would  resort  to  the  next 
best  scheme,  and  even  carry  her  out  of  her  home  by 
night. 

In  this  fine  humour  we  were  about  to  repair  to  the 
train  when  a  telegram  from  Laura  brought  us  the  sorry 
news  that  old  Jenkinson  had  discovered  the  correspond 
ence,  had  denounced  Mary's  confidante,  and  had  taken 
steps  to  keep  the  girl  more  cut  off  than  before  from  any 
communication.  This,  it  was  plain,  would  make  our 
enterprise  less  simple.  After  cursing  the  old  man  as 
a  monster  without  parallel,  and  indeed  unequalled  in 
Thibet  or  Turkey,  and  after  laying  this  new  trouble  to 
the  probable  gadding  of  the  fair  intermediary,  none 
save  men  being  able  to  keep  a  secret,  we  began  our 
preparations  in  a  frame  of  mind  easily  to  be  conceived 
by  such  as  are  not  too  old  to  recall  the  spirit  of  twenty- 
two. 

It  was  decided  that  we  should  start  on  a  late  train 
that  evening  by  way  of  Albany  and  Buffalo,  which 
route  making  my  purpose  easy,  I  was  permitted  to  go 
half  a  day  in  advance,  so  as  to  pass  a  few  hours  at  the 
former  place  in  quest  of  some  information  about  my 
uncle's  illness. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 
I   MEET    MAUD    START 

A  RRIVING  in  Albany,  I  sauntered,  as  was  natural, 
^7  in  the  direction  of  my  uncle's  house,  hoping  for 
an  opportunity  to  get  a  word  from  a  tradesman,  who, 
perhaps,  might  be  going  in  or  coming  out  of  it,  and 
to  see  what  I  could.  This  excursion  I  conducted  with 
some  caution,  lest  the  vigilant  Dole,  or  some  of  the 
servants,  should  get  a  glimpse  of  me,  and,  on  my  sec 
ond  turn  around  the  premises,  I  observed  a  tall  young 
woman  leaving  the  house  with  a  small  satchel  or  case. 
Her  figure  being  elegant,  I  sniffed  another  of  my 
uncle's  playful  affairs,  recalling,  too,  that  Senator 
Baxom  that  day  in  Toledo  had  mentioned  manicures  as 
having  come  within  the  aged  libertine's  kindness. 

I  followed  her  at  the  interval  of  a  few  hundred  feet 
until  she  entered  a  restaurant  downtown.  It  being  then 
time  for  dinner,  I  dropped  into  the  place  myself,  for 
there  is  always  a  chance  for  young  people  to  become 
acquainted.  The  plan  was  not  a  bad  one,  as  I  found 
the  tables  all  filled,  except  the  very  one  at  which  the 
girl  had  taken  her  seat,  so  this  one  having  chairs  for 
three  persons  vacant,  I  sat  down  in  one  opposite  to  her 
without  appearing  even  to  have  noticed  her ;  though,  in 
fact,  I  had  gotten  a  sufficient  glimpse  to  see  both  beauty 
and  vice  in  her  features. 

172 


I   MEET   MAUD    START          173 

In  a  casual  way  I  caught  her  eye  two  or  three  times 
while  giving  my  order,  until  she  began  to  fly  signals 
which  no  gallant  navigator  could  disregard  without 
losing  his  self-respect.  We  exchanged  unimportant  re 
marks,  then  laughed  a  little,  and  finally  pretended  to  be 
old  friends,  in  order  to  deceive  the  proprietor,  while 
we  should  enjoy  a  bottle  of  champagne. 

My  fairy,  under  the  influence  of  the  bottle,  grew 
communicative.  She  was  a  manicure,  she  said,  but 
people  were  so  mean,  the  vocation  was  only  fit  to  starve 
in,  which  statement  might  have  led  me  to  inquire  how 
she  came  by  her  finery,  since  she  was  elegantly  dressed, 
had  I  not  remembered  that  my  uncle  in  these  little  mat 
ters  was  probably  very  liberal. 

"I  suppose,"  said  I,  "you  don't  have  many  rich  peo 
ple  here  to  get  employment  from  ?" 

"Not  so  many  as  you'd  think,  but,  then,  it's  always 
the  rich  that  are  meanest  to  us." 

"I  suppose  old  Cameron  is  the  richest  man  in  town, 
isn't  he?"  I  asked,  innocently. 

"So  they  say,"  she  replied,  "but  he's  so  sick  I  suppose 
he  can't  live  long.  You  live  in  New  York,  I  believe 
you  said?" 

This  last  she  asked  as  if  become  cautious. 

"Yes,"  I  answered,  "and,  by  the  way,  they  say  down 
there  the  old  fellow's  married  in  secret  to  Lillian  Evan- 
son,  the  great  actress." 

"No,  he  isn't,  at  all,"  responded  the  nymph,  prompt 
ly  ;  "though,  of  course,  I  don't  know.  I  never  met  him 
in  my  life.  You're  a  drummer,  just  passing  through, 
probably?" 

This  I  acknowledged.  The  lady  had  obviously  be 
come  a  trifle  cautious  again,  so  I  led  the  talk  to  other 


174  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

subjects  with  the  intention  of  bringing  it  back  later,  all 
of  which  resulted  in  our  discussing  birth  and  blood. 
Her  name,  she  said,  was  Maud  Start,  who,  she  begged 
leave  to  say,  came  of  as  good  stock  as  anybody  else,  and 
was  a  perfect  lady.  About  a  hundred  years  ago  her 
great-grandfather,  a  Virginian,  had  removed  to  Ken 
tucky,  where  her  grandfather  had  married  the  daugh 
ter  of  one  of  its  most  honoured  and  popular  assassins. 
Her  father  also  had  been  prominent  in  feuds,  but,  one 
year,  during  the  usual  May-day  murders,  he  had  had 
the  ill  luck  to  kill  a  friend  instead  of  an  inveterate  foe. 
This  mischance  being  considered  against  the  law,  the 
local  prosecutor  insisted  upon  preferring  charges 
against  her  father,  with  such  success  that,  notwith 
standing  her  father  frankly  explained  the  affair  along 
with  an  apology,  he  was  subjected  to  the  unusual  hu 
miliation  of  a  sentence  to  jail  for  six  months.  This 
penalty,  in  accordance  with  local  custom,  he  was  per 
mitted  to  discharge  without  confinement  by  his  appear 
ing  before  the  sheriff  each  morning,  to  afford  a  con 
structive  detention.  However,  the  thing  so  grieved 
him  that,  after  wounding  the  prosecutor,  he  quitted  the 
State  and  married  in  the  North. 

Wondering  how  to  draw  her  mind  back  to  my  uncle, 
I  was  about  to  hazard  something  in  that  direction, 
when,  to  my  astonishment,  a  woman  spoke  to  her  be 
hind  my  back,  in  the  voice  of  Maria  Dole. 

"I  have  been  looking  for  you,"  she  said,  "looking 
everywhere.  I  want  to  see  you." 

By  this  time  I  had  turned  my  head,  so  that  she  saw 
my  face,  and,  I  assure  you,  the  countenance  was  a 
study,  with  more  lines  in  it  than  Ostade  himself  could 
have  drawn  in  a  hag.  The  scene  became  all  the  more 


I    MEET    MAUD    START  175 

interesting  because  the  fair  Maud,  perceiving  that  an 
acquaintance,  and  a  disagreeable  one,  existed  between 
Maria  and  me,  began  to  look  queer  herself,  in  which 
perplexity,  being  muddled  with  wine,  she  mentioned 
my  being  a  cousin  of  hers  who  sold  goods  for  John 
Wanamaker. 

"Oh,  never  mind  that  kind  of  talk/'  sneered  Maria. 
"This  young  man  is  Mr.  Cameron's  nephew.  I  sup 
pose  he  told  you  already,"  she  added,  with  a  smile. 

Now,  the  manner  in  which  the  girl  received  this  news 
was  enough  to  convince  me  forever  that  some  mischie 
vous  relation  existed  between  the  two,  and,  feeling  that 
I  had  gotten  all  the  information  I  could,  I  left  them 
with  a  pleasant  bow  and  a  jolly  air. 

I  then  repaired  to  the  station,  to  take  the  train  on 
which  Olcott  should  be  coming  from  New  York,  and 
on  this  I  joined  him. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 
ADVENTURE   AT    COLUMBUS 

CROM  the  moment  of  the  train's  leaving  the  station 
Olcott  settled  into  a  serious  humour,  beginning 
to  feel  at  last  that  it  is  no  child's  play  to  marry,  espe 
cially  when  you  have  to  steal  the  bride,  a  mood  he  con 
tinued  in  until  we  sat  down  to  a  meal  in  the  dining-car. 
Here  an  idea  suddenly  occurred  to  him. 

"Watch,"  said  he,  "those  two  fellows  across  the 
aisle.  They  are  Englishmen,  as  you  can  see  by  the 
way  they  handle  their  knives.  If  they  talk  at  all,  notice 
their  accent  closely,  for  I've  a  little  plan  I'll  tell  you 
about  after  a  bit." 

Doing  as  he  suggested,  I  was  soon  rewarded  by 
hearing  some  conversation  between  the  two  strangers, 
both  Britons,  as  their  voices  and  accents  placed  beyond 
doubt.  Of  course  we  appeared  to  take  no  notice  of 
them  and  they,  according  to  the  custom  of  their  race, 
were  upon  honour  not  to  have  become  aware  of  our  ex 
istence.  Among  the  whimsies  of  vanity  nothing  is  more 
unaccountable  than  the  desire  of  most  travellers  to 
make  themselves  look  important  in  the  eyes  of  stran 
gers,  who  cannot  possibly  know  anything  about  them, 
whom  they  do  not  meet  or  expect  to  meet,  and  whom 
they  know  they  will  lose  sight  of  in  an  hour  or  two 
forever. 

176 


ADVENTURE   AT   COLUMBUS     177 

No  sooner  had  we  returned  to  our  car  than  Olcott 
remarked : 

"Cameron,  when  we  arrive  at  Columbus  we  will 
make  a  few  efforts  to  talk  to  Mary  by  telephone,  and 
if  we  fail,  old  man,  then,  having  registered  under  as 
sumed  names  to  begin  with,  we  will  operate  under 
them.  You  are  to  be  Edward  Jones-Boggs.  That  in 
fernal  telegram  this  morning  upset  my  plans,  and  it's 
as  plain  as  day  that  I  can't  play  the  simple  hand  of 
having  Laura  Gay  bring  Mary  to  her  house  to  meet 
me.  No,  sir.  That  old  man  knows  his  business. 
Neither  Laura  nor  any  other  schoolmate  is  trusted. 
He'll  watch  her  like  a  hawk  until  he  takes  her  out  of 
town.  We  have  to  act  pretty  rapidly,  and  I'll  tell  you 
what  I'm  going  to  do/' 

He  then  proposed  to  me  the  following  course  of  im 
measurable  impudence:  We  were  both  to  register  our 
names  at  the  best  hotel  as  Englishmen,  I  under  the 
name  he  had  just  given  me,  and  he  as  Stanhope  Sin 
clair,  a  lord  travelling  incognito,  but  subsequently  to 
be  betrayed  by  me  in  a  slip  or  two  of  the  tongue.  We 
were  representing  English  capital,  desperately  anxious, 
however,  to  conceal  our  business  as  well  as  distin 
guished  social  position.  Immediately  upon  arriving  I 
should  seek  an  interview  with  the  most  prominent  real 
estate  man  in  town,  respecting  a  site  for  a  steel-pipe 
mill,  the  business  of  old  Jenkinson,  and,  swearing  the 
fellow  to  the  most  profound  secrecy,  lead  him  into  sug 
gesting  that  the  old  man  wait  at  least  a  day  or  two  in 
stead  of  whisking  himself  and  his  family  out  of  town 
at  once,  while  Olcott  should  busy  himself  in  devising 
some  way  of  meeting  Mary.  If  the  scheme  worked  at 
all,  it  was  almost  certain  we  should  be  invited  to  her 


178  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

very  home,  people  west  of  the  Alleghanies  being  pretty 
hospitable,  to  begin  with,  and  uncommonly  liable  to  be 
duped  by  anything  from  abroad. 

"You  couldn't  play  this  game  in  New  York  twenty 
minutes,"  said  he,  "but  out  here  they  know  little  or 
nothing  about  the  English.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to 
look  stupid  and  give  an  English  accent  to  about  half 
a  dozen  words  that  I'll  teach  you." 

To  this  escapade  I  beginning  at  once  to  offer  objec 
tions,  he  had  a  ready  answer  to  thena  all,  saying  that 
he  had  to  give  an  assumed  name  to  the  hotel  clerk  in 
any  event,  lest  his  presence  in  Columbus  be  discovered, 
so  it  mattered  little  whether  he  gave  himself  noble 
blood  or  not.  What  he  principally  argued  was  that,  in 
some  way  or  other,  he  must,  either  through  himself  or 
me,  have  an  arrangement  with  Mary,  with  whom  his 
only  link  had  been  broken  in  the  discovery  of  Laura, 
nor  would  it  be  safe  to  go  to  that  young  lady,  or  even 
to  let  her  know  of  his  arrival,  since  there  was  no  telling 
either  how  faithful  she  had  remained  or  how  discreet 
she  could  be  under  circumstances  so  exciting.  To  go 
to  anybody  else  would  not  do,  because,  being  an  utter 
stranger,  he  would  not  know  whom  to  trust.  He  care 
fully  and  earnestly  anticipated  every  objection  until  he 
convinced  me. 

"You  see,"  he  concluded,  "I  must  do  something  des 
perate  to  hold  the  old  man  in  town.  For  all  I  know, 
he  may  be  leaving  there  to-morrow,  and  I  can't  say  but 
Mary,  disgusted  and  tired  out,  and  not  knowing 
whether  I  can  get  her  out  of  the  scrape,  may  give  up 
the  fight  and  go,  too,  especially  as  she  can  get  no  word 
from  me,  for  how  can  I  telegraph  to  any  one  that  I  am 
actually  on  the  way?  A  rich  old  devil  like  Jenkinson 


ADVENTURE   AT   COLUMBUS     179 

must  have  influence  enough  in  his  own  town  to  have 
me  interfered  with  by  the  police  or  private  detectives 
on  some  pretext  or  other,  if  he  should  happen  to  get 
wind  of  my  coming." 

While  he  thus  discussed  the  business,  he  took  from 
his  pocket  two  thousand  dollars  in  currency,  of  which 
he  handed  me  five  hundred  as  a  fund  to  be  spent  liber 
ally  in  any  emergency,  should  we  have  to  act  separately. 
This  sum,  the  greatest  I  had  ever  had  in  my  pocket, 
raised  my  spirits  to  the  height  of  the  adventure. 

"We  shall  look  a  trifle  young,"  said  he,  "to  be  the 
representatives  of  big  capital  very  long,  but  we  can  be 
advance  agents  or  scouts,  so  to  speak,  without  over 
doing  the  parts,  particularly  as  we  both  look  a  few 
years  older  than  we  are.  The  fact  is  we  don't  have  to 
talk  much.  The  talking  is  certain  to  be  done  by  the 
broker  or  the  fellow  who  wants  to  sell.  Let  a  buyer 
only  hint  what  he  wants,  and  these  promoters  will  im 
agine  immense  things  behind  him." 

The  cleverness  of  the  fellow  was  wonderful,  as,  hour 
after  hour,  he  imagined  the  possible  situations  we  might 
be  in,  and  prepared  explanations  or  escape. 

"If  we  can  keep  Jenkinson  in  town  three  days,"  he 
cried,  "I'll  make  Mary  Mrs.  Olcott." 

Fortunately,  his  appearance  was  utterly  unknown  to 
any  one  in  the  Jenkinson  family,  except  Mary,  who  had 
no  photograph  of  him  that  could,  by  any  chance,  be  in 
their  hands. 

With  no  small  excitement  we  finally  went  to  bed, 
and  the  next  morning  were  in  Columbus,  where  we 
strode  through  the  station  to  a  cab.  In  an  excellent 
imitation  of  the  English  manner  Olcott  passed  his  bag 
to  the  cabman,  who  placed  it  on  the  seat  in  front,  the 


i8o  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

labels  pasted  on  it  by  the  Bonifaces  of  London  and 
Shanghai  appearing  to  do  us  very  good  service  in  that 
conspicuous  place. 

Being  soon  at  the  hotel,  we  alighted,  went  to  the 
clerk's  desk,  and  in  some  self-possession  registered  our 
fictitious  names  from  London.  When  the  clerk  asked 
us  with  unusual  politeness  the  sort  of  rooms  we  de 
sired,  I  merely  said  "Oh"  in  an  intonation  taught  me 
by  Olcott,  who  himself  answered  that  he  would  be  satis 
fied  with  "a  bit  of  a  suite  with  a  bath,  please,"  giving 
to  the  word  bath  a  broad  sound  that  suffocated  its 
vowel,  besides  adding  a  rising  inflection  to  the  word 
please.  This,  with  some  languor  of  manner,  distin 
guished  his  voice  at  once  among  the  nasal  tones  around 
us,  to  such  a  degree,  in  truth,  that  I  went  up  to  our 
rooms  in  much  confidence  about  our  deception,  began 
to  look  by  people  instead  of  seeing  them,  and  could  not 
have  felt  more  lofty  if  I  had  actually  possessed  the 
blood  of  all  the  Howards. 

In  order  that  everything  might  be  ready,  I  called  the 
hotel  valet  to  set  in  order  the  suits  of  clothes  which 
Olcott  and  I  had  with  us — Olcott's  in  particular,  since 
he  hoped  to  have  need  of  his  finery.  No  sooner  did  this 
flunky  show  his  face  than  I  felt  I  had  seen  him  before, 
in  consequence  of  which  I  at  length  asked  him  his 
name. 

"Conners,  sir,"  he  replied. 

"John  Conners  ?"  I  asked  in  excitement. 

"I  hope,  sir,  it's  a  matter  of  no  importance,"  replied 
the  fellow,  resuming  his  task. 

I  saw  that  I  had  found  my  man,  for  I  could  recall 
his  face  as  one  I  had  seen  during  my  short  stay  at  my 
uncle's,  but,  one  thing  was  quite  certain,  the  creature, 


ADVENTURE   AT   COLUMBUS     181 

though  he  recognised  me,  had  his  reasons  for  not  mak 
ing  himself  known,  while  I,  for  my  part,  as  Jones- 
Boggs  of  London  and  Olcott's  fidus  Achates  in  so  mo 
mentous  an  enterprise,  must  not  dare  to  open  my  mouth 
to  him. 

The  man  having  closed  the  door  behind  him,  I 
stepped  into  Olcott's  room  to  tell  him  the  important 
bit  of  news  that  Conners  had  drifted  from  Toledo  to 
Columbus  and  had  our  clothes  in  his  cafe  at  this 
minute. 

"Good  Lord !"  cried  he ;  "our  incogs  are  done  for — 
the  scoundrel  will  give  the  house  your  real  name.  We 
have  evidently  less  time  than  ever  to  lose." 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 
FURTHER   OF   THE   AFFAIR 

r\LCOTT  now  hurried  to  the  telephone  directory. 
^  In  a  moment,  with  keen  anxiety,  he  called  for  the 
Jenkinsons'  number,  and  this  being  given  him,  he  was 
informed  that  Miss  Mary  was  indisposed  that  day,  as 
well  as  too  busy  to  answer. 

"Tell  her,"  cried  Olcott,  "that  her  cousin  is  here 
from  Cincinnati  and  wishes  to  speak  with  her,"  adding 
aside  to  me  that,  as  she  had  a  cousin  in  either  Cincin 
nati  or  Chicago,  he  forgot  which,  he  would  take  a 
chance.  However,  this  had  a  bad  effect,  for,  to  his 
alarm,  he  was  next  answered  by  Mrs.  Jenkinson,  who, 
announcing  herself  to  be  such,  inquired  who  it  was 
that  called,  since  her  daughter  had  no  cousin  in  Cin 
cinnati.  This  little  slip  did  not  confuse  Olcott,  for  he 
quickly  replied  that  he  had  meant  to  say  from  Chicago. 
But  the  lady,  not  recognising  his  voice  and  probably 
wondering  why  he  did  not  give  her  some  words  of 
salutation,  appeared  not  to  understand  and  again  asked 
who  he  was,  so  that,  his  position  becoming  a  trifle 
warm,  he  was  obliged  to  get  out  of  the  conversation 
with  a  pleasant  sort  of  laugh,  explaining  that  he  was 
merely  a  friend  trying  to  tease  Miss  Mary,  and,  to 
avoid  further  inquiry,  pretended  that  the  telephone  was 

182 


FURTHER    OF   THE    AFFAIR      183 

working  so  badly  he  could  not  make  out  another  word 
she  said. 

"This,"  said  he,  as  he  sat  down,  "is  a  bad  start,  but 
we  had  to  make  an  attempt,  as  we  might  have  had 
better  luck." 

With  this  he  got  from  the  directory  the  telephone 
number  of  Jenkinson's  office  and  inquired  whether  that 
gentleman  was  in  town.  Here  he  had  more  success, 
for  the  person  replying  informed  him  that  he  was. 
However,  he  added  that  if  any  one  desired  to  see  Mr. 
Jenkinson  on  a  matter  of  importance,  he  had  better  do 
so  immediately,  because  he  was  going  out  of  the  city 
that  night  upon  a  long  absence.  This  being  informa 
tion  to  our  purpose,  it  was  forthwith  decided  that  Ol- 
cott  should  take  a  turn  or  two  around  the  residence  of 
the  Jenkinsons',  while  I  should  endeavour  to  open  some 
negotiations  that  might  delay  the  old  millionaire  at 
least  twenty- four  hours. 

No  occupation  so  speedily  educates  effrontery  as  the 
occupation  of  a  reporter.  The  experiences  I  had'  been 
through  in  New  York,  followed  by  several  weeks  as  a 
gatherer  of  news  and  an  interviewer,  now.served  me  so 
well  that  I  had  no  great  trepidation  in  undertaking  my 
part,  the  more  so  as  I  knew  it  had  to  be  played  only  a 
day  or  two  at  most,  and,  as  it  involved  no  swindling, 
could  not  be  attended  by  annoyance  from  those  un 
reasonable  persons,  sheriffs,  magistrates  and  police 
men. 

Having  selected  what  I  conceived  to  be  the  most 
prominent  real  estate  office  in  town,  I  asked  one  of  the 
clerks  whether  Mr.  Barberry  would  give  a  few  mo 
ments  to  Mr.  Jones-Boggs  of  London.  This  favour 


184  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

was  promptly  granted  to  me.  I  found  Barberry  to  be 
one  of  those  brisk,  sanguine,  and  by  no  means  practical- 
minded  persons  whom  we  commonly  see  in  this  sort 
of  business,  a  business  requiring  enthusiasm  and  imagi 
nation  in  a  greater  degree  than  it  does  severity  of  judg 
ment  or  executive  ability.  Having  exchanged  the 
pleasant  remarks  that  usually  precede  negotiations  be 
tween  those  who  intend  to  take  as  much  advantage  of 
each  other  as  possible,  we  waded  into  deeper  water. 

"Hunting  investment  for  English  capital,  eh?"  said 
the  plump  little  man.  "Well,  you've  come  to  the  proper 
town.  Columbus  is  one  of  the  finest  towns  in  this  glo 
rious  country  of  ours,  but  very  conservative,  Mr. 
Boggs,  very  conservative.  Now,  just  what  line  of  in 
vestment  do  you  fancy,  Mr.  Boggs,  what  special  sort, 
so  to  speak  ?" 

"In  great  confidence,  Mr.  Barberry,  my  instructions 
were  to  get  all  the  data  necessary  for  an  extensive  pipe 
plant." 

"Exactly,"  he  replied.  "Yes,  I  see.  Our  firm  has 
given  special  attention  to  just  that  class  of  investment. 
You  certainly  knew  whom  to  go  to.  And,  I  see,  you 
are  connected  with  that  English  syndicate  that  has 
been  making  similar  inquiries  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Pittsburg  lately  ?  Pardon  my  asking,  you  know." 

Not  knowing  just  where  this  would  lead  me,  I  hesi 
tated,  but  this,  far  from  doing  any  harm,  led  on  the 
imaginative  little  man. 

"Exactly,  Mr.  Boggs.  You  needn't  answer.  I  ap 
preciate  your  position.  I  understand.  There  must  be 
caution,  of  course." 

"Thanks,  Mr.  Barberry,  especially  as  you  understand 


FURTHER   OF   THE   AFFAIR      185 

that  I  am  simply  the  confidential  advance  agent  of  the 
syndicate/' 

"Precisely,  Mr.  Boggs.  I  understand  your  situation. 
Now,  you  probably  are  aware  of  the  large  plant  of  the 
Jenkinsons'  here.  Heard  about  it,  perhaps  ?" 

Being  on  this  also  a  trifle  slow,  I  was  again  relieved 
by  my  brisk  little  friend. 

"I  see,  of  course.  Naturally,  you've  not  come  here 
blind.  I  understand  your  situation  exactly.  But,  you 
know,  Mr.  Jenkinson  has  repeatedly  declined  offers  for 
his  property,  so  it's  no  use  to  approach  him,  I  imagine, 
unless  he  sees  heavy  competition  in  a  new  concern." 

"Money,  Mr.  Barberry,  will  do  anything,"  I  replied, 
with  much  gravity. 

"Precisely  the  way  I  like  to  hear  a  man  talk,"  ex 
claimed  Barberry.  "What's  the  use  of  power  nowa 
days  unless  you  use  it?  And,  the  Lord  knows,  you 
English  are  lousy  with  money,  so  to  speak,  though 
Uncle  Sam  is  accumulating  a  bit  himself  lately.  I've 
always  been  a  warm  admirer  of  the  English.  What's 
your  next  idea,  Mr.  Boggs  ?" 

"In  a  general  way  I  would  suggest  that  you  sound 
Jenkinson's  people  on  this  subject.  It  doesn't  matter 
much  to  us,  but  perhaps  you  had  better  act  quickly,  be 
cause  our  secret  advices  are  that  he  is  going  away." 

"I  see  you've  kept  yourself  advised,"  replied  Bar 
berry,  as  if  he  knew  of  Jenkinson's  intentions.  "Yes, 
there's  some  truth  in  the  report,  but,  of  course,  a  busi 
ness  man  is  never  in  a  hurry  to  leave  town  when  there's 
money  in  sight." 

We  then  agreed  that  he  should  forthwith  have  a 
word  with  Jenkinson,  while  I  should  return  to  the 


186  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

hotel,  where,  as  I  informed  him,  I  had  an  associate. 
In  speaking  of  Olcott  I  called  him,  as  if  inadvertently, 
Lord  Sinclair,  which  I  hastily  corrected  to  Mr.  Sin 
clair.  Then  I  left  Barberry  under  appointment  to  be 
at  the  hotel  two  hours  later. 

Returning  to  that  place,  I  found  Olcott  already  come 
back  without  success.  We  took  a  light  luncheon  and 
awaited  Barberry,  to  whom,  as  we  agreed,  Olcott 
should  now  appear  my  superior.  Olcott,  for  his  part, 
was  disposed  to  send  a  note  to  Alary  without  waiting 
for  the  result  of  our  scheme,  but,  upon  reflection,  ad 
mitted  it  best  not  to  do  so,  since,  in  case  the  thing 
should  fall  into  other  hands,  there  was  no  telling  the 
confusion  and  trouble  that  might  follow.  As  for  my 
self,  I  felt  in  a  good  humour  at  having  conducted  mat 
ters  thus  far  without  a  mistake. 

Barberry  came  punctually.  He  had  talked,  he  said, 
with  Mr.  Jenkinson's  counsel,  but  not  with  Jenkinson 
himself,  thinking  it  better  to  approach  the  principal  in 
a  diplomatic  manner,  besides  secretly  hoping,  no  doubt, 
to  engage  in  this  way  the  influence  commonly  possessed 
by  legal  advisers  over  their  clients.  As  a  consequence 
he  could  already  inform  us  that  Jenkinson,  having  of 
late  years  begun  to  feel  his  age,  was  at  heart  in  a  mood 
to  dispose  of  his  property.  He  would  demand  a  high 
price.  Already  he  had  declined  the  offer  of  an  Ohio 
syndicate,  but  this  largely  because  he  bitterly  disliked 
one  or  two  of  the  principal  men  that  composed  it. 

There  was  a  chance,  in  short,  for  negotiation.  What 
he  should  advise  was  that  we  repair  to  the  office  of 
Judge  Steele,  Jenkinson's  counsel,  disclose  our  purpose 
in  a  general  way,  and  count  upon  that  gentleman's  pre 
vailing  upon  Jenkinson  to  remain  in  the  city  a  day  or 


FURTHER   OF   THE   AFFAIR      187 

two  until  the  parties  on  both  sides  could  see  whether  it 
was  worth  while  to  spend  any  further  time  on  negotia 
tions. 

With  considerable  affectation  of  indifference  Olcott 
assented,  so  we  were  soon  at  the  offices  of  Judge  Steele. 


CHAPTER  XL 
THE   AFFAIR   CONTINUED 

JUDGE  STEELE  was  one  of  that  new  species  of 
*•*  practitioners  who,  by  no  means  profound  in  legal 
science,  and,  for  that  matter,  very  indifferent  towards 
study  as  mere  vulgar  drudgery,  attain  eminence  by  rea 
son  of  their  being  what  is  called  business  lawyers,  that 
is  to  say,  persons  whom  men  of  affairs  consult  to  get 
not  so  much  law  as  cool  business  advice  with  a  legal 
turn.  Among  the  failings  of  this  class  can  by  no  means 
be  reckoned  an  ignorance  of  human  nature,  which,  on 
the  contrary,  is  the  very  thing  they  best  understand. 
As  soon  as  we  were  introduced  to  this  counsellor,  ac 
cordingly,  I  perceived  we  were  regarded  with  shrewd 
ness. 

The  voluble  Barberry  having  begun  the  talk  with 
much  pleasantry,  the  Judge  remarked  that  he  had  al 
ready  considered  some  intimations  of  our  business. 
However,  he  hoped  nobody  would,  in  our  conversation, 
be  regarded  as  representing  anybody.  For  his  part,  he 
had  no  authority  to  speak  for  any  person  at  all.  He 
was,  however,  what  might  be  called  receptive.  He 
would  like  to  hear  any  suggestions,  if  any  one  cared 
to  offer  any. 

All  this  being  uttered  very  coolly,  I,  for  my  part, 
would  hardly  have  known  what  to  say,  but  Olcott  was 
far  from  being  ill  at  ease. 

188 


THE   AFFAIR   CONTINUED        189 

"I  trust,  Judge  Steele,"  said  he,  "that  the  persons 
with  whom  we  are  talking  are  such  as  the  interests  I 
represent  can  feel  are  entirely  confidential." 

This,  coming  from  him  in  a  manner  comparable  only 
to  that  of  a  young  Rothschild,  had  an  excellent  effect. 
The  Judge  replied  that  everything  should  be  so  re 
garded,  Barberry  adding  that  his  own  firm  made  a  spe 
cialty  of  being  confidential. 

"In  the  first  place,  then,"  continued  Olcott,  "what 
we  wish  to  know  is  whether  the  people  of  Columbus 
are  fair  towards  capital,  particularly  towards  capital 
from  abroad?" 

As  to  this  he  was  at  once  assured  by  both  the  others 
that  there  was  no  fairer  community  towards  capital 
anywhere  to  be  found  than  Columbus,  and  particularly 
Ohio  in  general,  the  laws  of  which  were  exquisitely 
contrived  to  shield  capital  from  the  people. 

"When  you  speak  of  laws,"  resumed  Olcott,  "I  may 
remark  that  we  have  not  yet  selected  our  solicitors 
here." 

This  was  a  happy  touch  by  no  means  lost  upon  Judge 
Steele,  who,  with  an  eye  to  the  future,  observed  very 
urbanely  that  the  selecting  of  counsel  would,  of  course, 
be  a  matter  requiring  deliberation. 

"For  the  present,  Judge,"  continued  my  clever  com 
panion,  "we  should  feel  quite  at  ease  in  accepting  your 
ideas  on  such  subjects  as  we  go  along,  because  of  the 
high  standing  you  enjoy  in  Columbus." 

"Thank  you,  gentlemen,"  replied  Steele.  "I  shall 
endeavour  to  merit  your  confidence." 

"Now,  while,  as  Mr.  Barberry  explained  to  you  at 
the  outset,  we  are  the  mere  advance  representatives  of 


A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

certain  foreign  interests,  it  is  not  necessary  to  describe 
those  interests  in  detail  just  at  present." 

"By  no  means.    Not  at  all,"  responded  the  Judge. 

"And,  to  be  brief,  being  here  to  report  as  fully  as 
possible  on  the  opportunities  for  a  new  pipe  plant  of 
great  magnitude,  we  received  the  happy  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Barberry  concerning  the  Jenkinson  works.  Now, 
if  this  question  can  be  of  interest  to  the  Jenkinsons,  well 
and  good.  If  not,  we  know  what  to  do." 

"Exactly,"  observed  Barberry. 

"I  understand  you  very  clearly,"  the  Judge  added 
gravely. 

After  a  short  pause,  the  legal  gentleman  continued : 

"As  you  are  perhaps  aware,  I  have  long  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  Mr.  Jenkinson.  In  fact,  I  may  say,  able 
man  though  he  is,  he  has  of  late  years  scarcely  been 
willing  to  take  the  smallest  step  without  my  advice. 
There  was  that  investment  at  Akron — entirely  on  my 
responsibility — inch  by  inch.  Then  I  was  very  success 
ful,  perhaps  I  ought  to  say  merely  lucky,  you  know,  in 
that  provoking  fight  over  the  Smith  patents,  in  which, 
to  do  them  justice,  Griggs  and  Dodge  did  give  me  a 
hard  tussle  in  court — able  gentlemen  generally.  So,  in 
a  word,  I  think  I  can  speak  with  some  assurance  of  Mr. 
Jenkinson's  real  views." 

He  paused  here  to  compress  his  lips  and  slightly  con 
tract  his  brows. 

"Mr.  Jenkinson  is  not  so  young  as  he  was." 

Nobody  disputing  this,  he  added : 

"And,  I  may  say,  he  knows  it." 

"Exactly,"  said  Barberry. 

"Now,  I  commit  no  breach  of  confidence  when  I 
say,"  the  Judge  went  on,  "that  Mr.  Jenkinson  is  sev- 


THE   AFFAIR   CONTINUED        191 

eral  years  older  than  any  one  in  this  office  at  the  pres 
ent  moment.  The  consequence  is  the  man  is  tired.  He 
wants  to  drop  business.  He  has  only  one  child,  is  ready 
to  go  abroad,  would  have  done  so  long  ago  if  he  could 
have  torn  himself  away  from  that  office,  and,  un 
less  I  personally  induce  him  to  remain,  he  will  start 
to  San  Francisco  to-night.  Now,  he  has  had  offers 
enough  for  the  plant,  of  course,  but,  the  fact  is,  these 
offers  have  thus  far  proceeded  from  sources  extremely 
disagreeable  to  Mr.  Jenkinson  and  not  to  be  consid 
ered.  To-day  he  will  sell,  yes,  but  at  a  high  figure. 
It  will  cost  money.  Don't  ask  me  to  name  any  sum. 
All  I  can  say  is  that  if  you  gentlemen  are  prepared 
to  take  an  option  on  the  plant  at  the  highest  market 
price,  pay  for  that  option  a  reasonable  forfeit  to  hold 
it  during  inspection  of  the  properties,  say  twenty  thou 
sand  dollars,  Mr.  Jenkinson  will,  I  cannot  say,  execute 
papers  for  a  sale  at  once,  but  will  remain  to  consider 
the  matter  fully.  In  other  words,  if  your  people  would, 
if  we  should  agree  on  a  total  purchase  price,  pay  for 
the  option  some  such  amount,  the  option  to  be  only  long 
enough  for  a  bona  fide  inspection,  I  think  Mr.  Jenkin 
son  will  remain." 

"This  sounds  very  business  like,"  replied  Olcott, 
coolly,  though  all  the  rest  of  us  were  regarding  him 
with  expectation.  'This  is  precisely  the  way  these 
things  should  be  approached.  My  people  don't  want  to 
trifle  with  anybody,  and,  I  desire  to  say,  they  don't 
want  anybody  to  trifle  with  them.  Suppose  we  see  Mr. 
Jenkinson  at  once." 

"Perhaps,"  replied  the  Judge,  "I  had  better  open  the 
subject  to  him  a  little  myself  beforehand.  Let  us  meet 
here  at  four  o'clock.  Is  it  agreeable?" 


192  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Having  all  agreed  to  this,  Olcott  and  I  went  back  to 
the  hotel,  and,  notwithstanding  some  misgivings,  re 
turned  at  four  o'clock  to  the  law  offices,  where,  within 
twenty  minutes,  Steele  came,  followed  by  no  less  a  per 
son  than  Jenkinson  himself.  The  old  gentleman  ap 
peared  past  sixty,  or,  at  least,  at  that  period  when  men 
have  some  curiosity  why  their  friends  are  dropping 
off  so  fast  and  what  the  diseases  are  that  cause  obituary 
notices.  He  was,  though,  strong  and  hearty  enough, 
and,  having  risen  to  fortune  from  the  ranks  of  a  work 
man,  he  had  a  blunt,  gruff  manner  of  speech  that  indi 
cated  he  generally  had  his  own  way  without  debate. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "you  English  send  young  men  to 
the  front  the  same  as  we  do  over  here.  Now,  gentle 
men,  this  is  a  busy  day  with  Tom  Jenkinson.  Are  you 
here  to  talk  business  ?" 

"We  are,  Mr.  Jenkinson/'  replied  Olcott,  with  per 
fect  assurance,  "provided  there  is  any  use  of  talking 
business." 

"Well,  for  that  matter,"  responded  the  old  man,  "I 
always  said  that  anything  of  mine  is  for  sale,  except  my 
wife  and  daughter,  provided  my  price  is  named.  I'm 
not  holding  any  property  for  love  or  affection." 

"Exactly,"  remarked  Barberry. 

"I  heard  some  time  ago,"  Jenkinson  continued,  "that 
the  English  were  nosing  about  Pittsburg  for  pipe 
plants,  so  I  rather  guessed  we'd  have  them  here." 

"Now,"  said  Olcott,  in  his  most  cold  business-like 
manner,  "there's  no  use  of  taking  up  each  other's  time 
unnecessarily.  As  you  Americans  say,  business  is  busi 
ness." 

"Exactly,"  said  Barberry. 

"That's  what  it  is,"  said  Jenkinson. 


THE   AFFAIR   CONTINUED        193 

"And  to  bring  this  thing  to  a  head,  Mr.  Jenkinson, 
I  will  say  just  here  that,  if  you  will  name  us  a  price,  we 
will  pay  a  reasonable  sum  for  an  option  during  inspec 
tion.  You  can  think  this  matter  over.  We  have  no 
desire  to  hurry  you.  On  the  other  hand,  we  should  like 
to  have  your  decision  by  to-morrow  noon.  Take  till 
to-morrow  noon,  Mr.  Jenkinson." 

With  this  he  arose  to  go,  having  undoubtedly  played 
his  empty  hand  in  the  finest  possible  manner,  so  every 
eye  turned  towards  Jenkinson.  We  began  to  go  to  the 
door,  fully  convinced  we  had  won  the  delay  of  a  day, 
when  the  old  gentleman  exclaimed : 

"Here,  I  might  as  well  say,  without  further  fooling, 
that  you  can  have  my  price  this  minute.  I've  had  to 
have^such  figures  in  my  head  for  some  time,  lately.  You 
can  have  my  plant  for  two  millions  and  not  a  dollar 
less." 

This  placed  Olcott  in  a  bad  situation,  for  it  was  hard 
to  decide  how  to  get  further  delay,  whether  Jenkinson 
would  allow  delay  more  readily  on  the  excuse  of  hag 
gling  over  the  price  or  on  the  excuse  of  our  wanting  a 
day  in  which  to  pay  the  deposit.  But  the  fellow  was 
equal  to  any  embarrassment. 

"Agreed,  Mr.  Jenkinson,"  he  responded.  "Two  mil 
lions  is  the  price,  for  the  general  character  of  your 
plant  is  better  known  to  us  than  you  are  probably 
aware.  But  the  deposit  must  be  reasonable." 

"Thirty  thousand  dollars,"  Jenkinson  replied. 

"Agreed  again,"  said  Olcott.  "I  presume  Judge 
Steele  can  have  the  necessary  papers  ready  by  to-mor 


row  noon." 


"To-day's  the  day,"  answered  the  old  man,  who,  like 


194  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

most  vendors,  now  began  to  regret  his  having  sold  at 
all,  or  his  not  having  asked  a  higher  price. 

"It's  after  banking  hours,"  replied  Olcott,  a  little 
nonplussed,  but  not  out  of  countenance. 

"I  should  think  to-morrow  noon  would  be  not  un 
reasonable,"  suggested  Steele. 

"Well,  these  fellows  say  they  know  already  what 
they  are  buying,  so  I'm  not  hurrying  them  too  much. 
Besides,  I'm  all  ready  to  leave  town.  I  want  to  know 
that  business  is  business.  Not  meaning  any  offense,  I 
don't  know  these  young  gentlemen  from  Adam." 

Upon  this  Olcott,  with  consummate  art,  counter 
feited  a  somewhat  injured  air,  bowed  pleasantly  to  all, 
and  moved  towards  the  door. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "for  having 
taken  your  time  unnecessarily.  I  think  we  had  as  well 
drop  this  business.  I  mean  no  unkindness  to  Mr.  Jen- 
kinson,  one  of  your  leading  citizens,  when  I  say  that 
as  we  are  not  asking  something  for  nothing,  his  precipi- 
tateness  in  a  matter  of  such  magnitude  amounts  to  a 
reflection  on  myself  and  my  associate,  Mr.  Boggs, 
wholly  unnecessary  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings. 
I  am  willing  to  pay  the  deposit  by  to-morrow  noon, 
that  is  to  say,  less  than  twenty-four  hours.  The  amount 
is  not  serious,  of  course,  but  excuse  me  if  I  say  that 
I  would  incur  the  censure  of  my  principals  if,  before 
paying  it,  I  did  not  have  the  services  of  Judge  Steele 
here  or  some  other  eminent  counsel  to  draft  the  terms 
of  the  option." 

<kOh,  here  now,"  exclaimed  Jenkinson,  who  saw 
his  two  millions,  an  excessive  price,  vanishing.  "I 
meant  no  offense,  you  know.  What  do  you  say,  Judge  ? 
To-morrow  noon?  But  not  an  hour  longer.  I'm  sick. 


THE   AFFAIR   CONTINUED       195 

I  want  to  get  away.  Mary  and  her  mother  all  upset, 
too." 

The  general  terms  of  the  option  were  then  pleasantly 
discussed,  so  that  Steele  could  have  the  paper  ready  the 
next  morning. 

"I  suppose  I'm  a  damned  fool  to  sell  this  plant.  You 
fellows  are  getting  a  great  bargain.  But  I've  made 
up  my  mind  long  ago  to  sell.  That  gang  of  Baxom's 
could  have  had  it  long  ago  if  they  had  only  been  white 
men.  They've  been  wanting  it  bad  enough." 

With  this  all  went  downstairs,  where  we  moistened 
ourselves  with  a  drink  or  two. 

"You're  the  cleanest-cut  pair  of  Englishmen  I  ever 
saw,"  said  the  old  man,  who  probably  had  never  seen 
half  a  dozen  Britons  of  our  pretended  class  before. 
"Now,  I'll  tell  you — suppose  you  both  pay  me  a  call 
this  evening.  You're  strangers,  you  know,  and  the 
people  in  the  West  like  to  be  hospitable.  You're  a  pretty 
fine  pair  of  youngsters." 

"You  are  extremely  kind,"  replied  Olcott.  "Either 
I  or  Mr.  Boggs  will  be  pleased  to  do  so." 

"Good!"  cried  Jenkinson,  much  pleased  with  Olcott; 
"be  sure  to  come." 

We  could  scarcely  refrain  from  hugging  each  other 
in  our  happiness,  while  I,  for  my  part,  regarded  Olcott 
as  a  prodigy.  Regaling  ourselves  with  more  good 
liquor,  we  resolved  that,  as  it  might  be  too  great  a  sur 
prise  to  Mary  if  Olcott  should  go  to  Jenkinson's,  I 
should  go  alone,  get  a  word  in  her  ear  in  some  way  or 
other,  and  arrange  that  she  fly  from  her  father's  house 
at  daybreak  in  order  to  catch  with  Olcott  an  early  train 
that  passed  through  Columbus  on  its  way  to  Toledo. 

"This  leaves  the  final  success  of  this  business  with 


196  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

you,  Cameron,  so  keep  as  cool  as  possible  in  that  house 
to-night." 

With  that  he  scribbled  a  note  to  Mary  by  way  of 
giving  me  proper  letters  plenipotentiary,  nor  did  ever 
ambassador  set  out  on  his  mission  with  more  pride 
than  I. 

Stepping  out  of  the  hotel,  I  was  about  to  take  a  car 
riage,  when  a  voice  accosting  me  as  "Mr.  Cameron. 
If  you  please,  sir,"  I  turned  and  beheld  Conners  at  my 
elbow. 

"I  have  been  thinking  a  matter  over,  sir,  since  you 
spoke  to  me  in  the  rooms,  sir,  and  have  concluded  it  to 
be  my  duty,  sir,  everything  being  otherwise  made  right, 
to  make  myself  known." 

Delighted  to  have  the  man  change  his  humour,  I  was 
about  to  avail  myself  of  it,  when  it  flashed  across  my 
mind  that  to  avow  myself  Cameron  was  to  imperil 
Olcott  at  the  most  critical  stage  of  our  business,  so  I 
desperately  determined  to  deny  myself. 

"My  name  is  Boggs-Jones,  no,  Jones-Boggs,  fel 
low,"  I  cried,  getting  into  a  cab  and  driving  rapidly 
away.  My  only  course  was,  I  thought,  to  ignore  him 
just  now.  His  residence  being  now  known  to  me,  I 
could  afford  to  wait  a  day  or  two. 


CHAPTER  XLI 
SUCCESS   OF   THE   AFFAIR 

\17  ITH  a  fair  degree  of  self-possession  I  betook  my 
self  at  eight  o'clock  to  the  Jenkinsons',  where  I 
was  received  cordially  by  both  the  parents.  The  mother 
I  found  to  be  vulgar,  purse-proud,  and  of  no  acquaint 
ance  with  the  world  as  yet  through  travel  or  elegant 
company,  the  fortune  of  the  family  being,  in  fact,  ex 
tremely  recent  even  in  the  West.  The  old  fool,  having 
a  mind  to  appear  younger  than  she  was,  endeavoured 
to  conceal  several  obstinate  wrinkles  as  well  as  those 
lines  on  the  side  of  the  neck,  which  are  even  a  more 
certain  indication  of  age.  The  news  that  an  English 
man  was  coming  had  spurred  both  her  attire  and  her 
grammar,  but  the  latter  was  not  to  be  kept  long  beneath 
any  veneer.  The  couple  got  on  well  together,  as  I  sub 
sequently  learned,  for  old  Jenkinson  was  man  enough 
to  have  his  own  way  and  his  lady,  at  her  best,  so  plain 
she  had  to  be  virtuous. 

We  talked  a  short  time  on  trifles,  and  the  old  lady 
mentioning,  what  she  knew  nothing  about,  that  my 
grammar  was  not  English  in  so  marked  a  degree  as 
was  commonly  to  be  noticed,  I  glibly  protected  myself, 
remarking  that  my  mother  had  been  a  native  of  the 
States.  At  this  old  Jenkinson  expressed  a  hearty  ap 
proval,  vowing  he  had  been  sure  of  something  of  the 

197 


198  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

sort  all  the  while,  but  the  old  lady  plainly  thought  the 
less  of  me  by  reason  of  this  misfortune,  while  I  myself 
was  in  no  position,  being  a  Briton,  to  express  my  re 
gret  at  a  poor  American  ingredient  in  my  blood. 

Meanwhile,  being  desperately  uneasy  lest  I  should 
get  no  glimpse  of  the  daughter,  I  was  about  to  be  so 
bold  as  to  lead  up  to  that  subject,  when  the  damsel 
came  in,  a  somewhat  buxom  girl  of  eighteen,  with  her 
father's  strong  will  in  her  face.  She  had  in  some  de 
gree  that  shortness  of  neck  which,  at  least  in  a  man,  is 
so  good  a  sign.  That  she  was  in  no  sweet  humour  was 
plain,  for  she  gave  little  response  to  my  attempts  at 
conversation.  In  fact,  I  was  soon  at  the  end  of  my 
string,  for,  of  course,  I  could  find  few  pretexts  to  pro 
long  my  stay. 

However,  there  joined  us  several  persons  who  came 
to  say  good-bye  to  the  family,  and  in  the  little  con 
fusion  this  occasioned  I  contrived  to  get  close  enough 
to  Mary  to  whisper  the  name  of  Olcott  while  slipping 
his  note  into  her  hand.  Though,  as  Tony  Lumpkin 
would  say,  her  cheeks  were  as  broad  and  red  as  a  pulpit- 
cushion,  the  girl  grew  redder  than  before,  even  con 
cealing  her  excitement  by  stepping  back  a  pace  or  two 
into  a  large  curtained  window. 

Managing  her  part  with  considerable  composure,  she 
speedily  suggested  to  her  parents  a  desire  to  have  me 
see  the  drawing-room,  which  contained  a  number  of 
pictures,  and  as  soon  as  we  had  withdrawn  to  it,  her 
eyes  eagerly  devoured  the  note.  That  communication, 
beyond  the  usual  outpourings  of  love,  contained  no 
more  than  that  the  elopement  be  arranged  through  me. 
I  accordingly  told  her  on  what  train  we  hoped  to  have 
her  go. 


SUCCESS    OF   THE   AFFAIR       199 

"Tell  him,"  said  the  girl,  without  a  particle  of  fear, 
"tell  him  that  I'll  be  there." 

Delighted  at  the  success  of  my  agency,  I  returned 
with  her  to  the  company,  found  a  speedy  excuse  to  be 
off,  and  was  soon  in  the  presence  of  Olcott,  with  whom 
I  exchanged  congratulations,  including  the  loudest 
praise  of  each  other's  guilefulness.  Each  was  sure  that 
the  other  had  a  masterful  mind.  Together  we  were 
clearly  invincible. 

Having  made  every  arrangement  during  the  night, 
we  were  up  by  dawn  and  at  the  station.  Punctually  at 
six  the  faithful  virgin  hurried  into  the  waiting-room, 
removing,  whilst  she  ran  into  the  arms  of  Olcott,  a 
veil  that  at  first  concealed  her  blooming  features.  As 
for  myself,  as  if  the  whole  affair  were  under  my  man 
agement,  and  with  an  air  of  proprietorship  in  the  young 
couple,  I  busied  myself  with  a  few  small  matters  for 
our  journey.  With  much  importance  I  applied  to  the 
window  for  tickets,  when,  to  my  despair,  I  learned  that, 
by  reason  of  a  wreck,  our  train  would  not  come  in  or 
go  out  until  noon.  At  this  sorry  news  the  lovers  were 
beside  themselves  with  alarm.  There  was  certain  to  be 
a  hue  and  cry  at  the  Jenkinsons'  by  eight  o'clock. 

While  we  were  in  this  dilemma,  for  no  other  train 
that  would  at  all  serve  our  turn  was  to  depart  until 
eleven  o'clock,  and  that  for  Cincinnati,  I  was  surprised 
beyond  measure  to  run  into  no  less  a  person  than  Sen 
ator  Baxom,  followed  by  his  spouse.  After  some  ejac 
ulations,  by  no  means  unpleasant,  at  this  meeting,  the 
Senator  begged  I  would  excuse  his  hurrying  off,  as  he 
had  an  imperative  call  to  return  to  his  home  at  Toledo, 
had  counted  on  the  early  train,  and  had  been  compelled 
to  engage  a  special  car  and  locomotive. 


200  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Damn  these  railroads !"  cried  the  Senator.  "I  never 
knew  one  of  them  to  be  on  time  in  my  life." 

In  a  moment  I  threw  myself  upon  his  mercy.  Tell 
ing  him  of  the  eloping  couple,  I  begged  most  fervently 
that  he  take  us  with  him. 

"Good  God,  my  boy !"  cried  the  Senator.  "This  is  a 
delicate  business.  I  have  a  daughter  of  my  own  and 
would  feel  like  killing  a  fellow  for  stealing  her  in  this 
sort  of  way." 

"Senator,"  I  said,  "let  me  bring  them  to  you.  Don't 
leave  us  in  this  difficulty.  Please  don't." 

"But,  Cameron,  my  boy,"  replied  the  Senator,  "it's 
a  devil  of  a  piece  of  meddling  you  propose  for  me.  Fur 
nishing  private  cars  and  special  trains  for  runaway 
couples." 

"It's  very  serious  indeed,  Mr.  Cameron,"  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Baxom,  who  was  generally  the  most  imperturba 
ble  of  women. 

"But  old  Jenkinson  will  be  after  us  in  a  minute,  Sen 
ator,"  I  cried. 

"What's  that?  What  name  did  you  say?"  the  Sen 
ator  asked,  in  a  new  to/ie. 

"Jenkinson,"  I  replied,  "old  Jenkinson,  the  pipe  man. 
He'll  ruin  all  our  work  unless  you  lend  a  hand." 

"Now,  damn  him !"  responded  the  Senator.  "I  know 
the  old  rascal  these  twenty  years.  What's  his  reason, 
I'd  like  to  know,  for  interfering  with  them  ?  Is  he  her 
father,  did  you  say  ?  Isn't  she  old  enough  to  know  her 
own  mind  ?" 

"Let  us  see  the  young  couple.  Where  are  they?" 
asked  Mrs.  Baxom. 

Not  until  some  time  later  did  I  learn  that  there  had 
long  been  a  political  feud  between  Jenkinson  and 


SUCCESS   OF   THE   AFFAIR      201 

Baxom,  both  members  of  the  same  party,  but  of  differ 
ent  factions,  for,  while  Jenkinson  wanted  no  place  for 
himself,  he  had  aided  friends  who  unsuccessfully  as 
pired.  The  bitterest  political  quarrels  are  such  as  occur 
within  a  party  itself,  these  being  of  a  family  sort  and 
not  to  be  forgiven  because  attended  with  peculiar 
felicity  of  taunt  and  insult. 

"Upon  my  word,"  cried  Mrs.  Baxom,  after  a  few 
words  with  Mary,  "Miss  Jenkinson  seems  to  know  her 
mind." 

"I  don't  see,  Mrs.  Baxom,"  the  Senator  added,  "why 
a  sensible-looking  girl  like  this  shouldn't  be  permitted 
to  choose  for  herself.  It's  little  less  than  criminal  to 
interfere  between  young  couples.  Here,  get  aboard 
with  us,  you  young  rascals.  God !  I  enjoy  this  business 
myself!  Opposing  his  own  daughter!  I  never  heard 
of  anything  like  it  in  my  life." 


CHAPTER  XLII 
THE   MAN    CONNERS 

CORTUNATE  in  adversity  are  they  who  by  some 
A  chance  make  an  enemy  of  one  having  bitter  foes, 
for  such  persons  shall  no  longer  go  begging  for  aid.  If 
you  would  get  assistance  from  one  who  is  under  small 
obligation  to  render  it,  discover  beforehand  whom  he 
hates.  Compel  his  enemies  to  oppose  you  and  hence 
forth  he  is  your  friend.  Most  men  will  do  more  out  of 
revenge  than  out  of  affection. 

Thus  it  was  in  the  present  instance.  The  Baxoms 
could  not  do  enough  for  us  to  satisfy  their  zeal.  A  fine 
breakfast  was  served,  plans  were  laid  for  the  wedding 
in  Toledo,  and  the  young  couple  were  to  be  launched 
like  millionaires. 

"Why,  that  old  devil,  Jenkinson,  never  could  treat 
anybody  right,  Mr.  Cameron,"  the  Senator  observed 
apart  to  me.  "For  years  he  has  been  throwing  himself 
in  the  way  of  my  friends  in  Columbus,  notwithstanding 
the  best  business  reasons  were  offered  him  why  he 
should  keep  out  of  the  way.  Whenever  a  man  rejects 
a  fair  business  argument,  Cameron,  there's  something 
wrong.  He's  either  an  infernal  fool  or  dishonest.  Now, 
Jenkinson  is  no  fool.  My  friends  offered  to  buy  him 
off,  as  he  was  wanting  no  office  himself,  and  keep  him 
out  of  politics,  offered  to  buy  two  or  three  pieces  of 
worthless  property  from  him  at  a  high  price  by  way 


THE   MAN    CONNERS  203 

of  peace,  but  he  refused  to  get  out  and  sell.  The  fel 
low's  not  honest.  There's  some  crooked  reason  behind 
it  all.  Asked  two  millions  for  his  plant,  did  he?  Not 
worth  half  as  much.  Imposing  on  two  inexperienced 
boys  like  you !" 

Particularly  was  he  pleased  at  our  deceiving  Steele. 

"Waiting  for  his  fee  this  morning,  I  suppose,  the  old 
grafter.  He's  another  of  the  same  sort.  Two  of  a 
kind,  Cameron." 

To  make  a  short  story,  the  marriage  occurred  that 
day  in  Toledo,  whence  a  message  was  dispatched  to 
the  parents  announcing  the  nuptials,  together  with  the 
departure  of  the  pair  to  New  York.  The  Senator, 
deeply  pleased  at  what  he  felt  was  in  great  part  his  own 
work,  lauded  Olcott  and  myself  to  the  skies.  He  gave 
the  former  a  letter  to  a  friend  prominent  in  Wall 
Street,  to  whom  he  described  him  as  a  young  person  of 
"singularly  manly  and  enterprising  character." 

"You  boys,"  he  said  at  the  station,  "must  come  to 
Washington  next  winter.  That  pretense  of  being  Eng 
lish  capitalists  is  the  prettiest  bit  of  work  I've  seen  in 
twenty  years.  We  need  you  lads,  I  tell  you,  in  matters 
of  a  more  general  and  public  sort.  You  must  get  out 
of  this  reporting  business.  Remember,  now,  I  can 
give  you  something  more  profitable  down  at  Washing 
ton  when  Congress  meets." 

It  is  a  doubly  fortunate  circumstance  that  a  man 
should  assist  you,  since  you  get  not  only  that  service, 
but  his  desire  to  perform  another,  for  there  is  no*  safer 
maxim  of  human  conduct  to  rely  upon  than  the  one 
laid  down  long  ago  by  Machiavelli,that  men  think  more 
of  those  to  whom  they  have  rendered  favours  than  of 
those  from  whom  they  have  received  them. 


204  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

You  may  easily  imagine  my  pride  in  being  the  means 
of  extricating  the  Olcotts  from  their  embarrassing 
plight  in  so  elegant  a  manner.  The  grateful  girl 
thanked  me  a  hundred  times,  while  Olcott  swore  his 
obligations  to  me  were  everlasting.  Few  are  the  situa 
tions  in  life  more  pleasing  to  recall  than  such  as  these, 
in  which  youth  renders  us  so  ready  to  sacrifice  every 
thing  for  friendship  and  all  our  sentiments  are  sincere. 

On  my  mind  all  the  while  was  the  man  Conners, 
whom,  even  in  the  hurry  of  departure  from  Columbus, 
I  had  vainly  endeavoured  to  see  again.  Judge,  then, 
my  surprise,  when,  as  I  was  about  to  take  the  train  at 
Toledo  with  no  better  hope  than  to  have  him  ap 
proached  later  by  the  Senator,  I  beheld  the  fellow  him 
self  at  the  station  getting  off  a  train  that  had  just  come 
in  from  Columbus.  I  followed  him  until  I  overheard 
him  ask  a  porter  about  the  next  train  for  Albany. 

Something,  I  felt,  was  brewing,  or  perhaps  he  had 
heard  of  my  uncle's  illness.  After  a  few  moments  I 
accosted  him. 

"Conners/'  said  I,  "first  let  me  have  a  word  with 
you." 

"Conners,  did  you  say,  sir?"  he  inquired  with  per 
fect  face. 

"Yes — you  understand,  Conners.  I  am  Mr.  Cam 
eron,  as  you  perceived  at  Columbus." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  sir.  I  thought  I  remembered  a 
name  like  Joggs-Bones  or  the  like,"  he  replied,  making 
sport  of  my  assumed  name. 

"No  matter  for  that,  Conners,  I " 

"If  you'll  excuse  me,  sir,  my  name's  not  Conners," 
he  replied,  leaving  me  half  insolently,  with  some  new 
purpose  in  his  skull. 


THE  MAN   CONNERS  205 

For  the  present  I  gave  him  up,  nor  will  the  reader 
fail  to  observe  the  singularity  of  our  memories,  each 
of  us  being  unable  to  recall  his  own  name  whenever  the 
other  could  remember  his. 

At  first  I  was  disposed  to  get  off  at  Albany  myself, 
but  this,  I  felt,  would  do  no  good,  as  these  people  could 
be  sufficiently  watched  by  other  eyes  in  my  interest. 
Besides,  I  felt  I  ought  to  pass  a  half  a  day  at  my  old 
home,  while  on  my  way. 


CHAPTER  XLIII 
MY   OLD    HOME 

T  T  was  Sunday  morning  when,  after  the  absence  of 
nearly  a  year,  I  visited  the  scenes  of  my  boyhood. 
Little  had  I  fancied  that  in  so  short  a  time  everything 
should  appear  changed  where  nothing  had  been  altered. 
It  is  a  peculiarity  of  memory  to  magnify  the  distance 
between  objects,  though  no  lapse  of  years  can  efface 
their  details.  The  garden  now  seemed  small  which  in 
recollection  had  grown  large,  while  all  the  village 
houses  which  I  remembered  as  having  some  space  be 
tween  them  and  the  street  now  fronted  closely  on  the 
highway.  Thus  the  little  town  lost  dignity  in  my  eyes, 
unconscious,  as  I  was,  that  the  greatest  change  was  in 
myself. 

Soon  there  broke  the  morning  stillness  the  simple 
peal  of  the  church  bell,  and,  before  visiting  my  old  pre 
ceptor,  I  stole  into  a  back  seat,  where  the  near-sighted 
old  fellow  could  not  see  me,  and  where  I  might  listen 
unobserved  to  his  drowsy  discourse.  It  moved  me  to 
hear  those  kindly  tones  again.  I  joined  with  feeling 
in  the  responses,  which  combine  the  precepts  of  Chris 
tian  faith  with  the  utmost  felicity  o£  English  expres 
sion,  music  adding  its  influence  in  the  sweet  chant  of 
the  choir. 

No  sooner  was  the  service  concluded  than  I  hurried 

206 


MY   OLD    HOME  207 

to  the  vestry.  The  good  man  had  not  yet  had  time  to 
remove  his  surplice. 

"Charles,  my  boy/'  he  cried,  "is  it  possible  you  are 
here?" 

"Here  indeed,  Mr.  Aiken,"  I  replied,  almost  moved 
to  tears  to  see  such  simple  honesty  again  after  so  world 
ly  a  year.  We  all  but  embraced  each  other. 

"I  know  not  what  kind  inspiration  caused  me  to  se 
lect  my  text  this  morning,  it  was  so  well  suited  to  your 
coming.  You  heard  it  all,  did  you,  Charles  ?" 

"Every  word  of  it,  though  it  was  much  too  short." 

"Thank  you,  Charles,  thank  you.  I  appreciate  it  all 
the  more  because,  of  course,  you  now  hear  every  Sun 
day  in  the  metropolis  men  of  far  greater  eloquence  than 
mine.  Thank  heaven,  your  spiritual  welfare  will  not 
be  neglected  by  those  great  divines." 

Then  we  repaired  to  his  house  in  company  with  his 
plump  little  wife,  who  straightway  bestirred  herself  in 
hospitality.  While  she  was  preparing  the  good  cheer, 
the  old  gentleman  and  I  discussed  my  former  life  in 
the  village. 

"After  all,  though,  Charles,"  said  trie  good  man, 
"your  father's  taking  off  was  not  untimely.  His  mind 
began  to  fail." 

At  this  I  expressed  surprise. 

"Yes,  it  was  so,  my  boy,"  he  continued.  "Indeed, 
I  began  to  fear  the  gentle  fellow  might  outlive  his  men 
tal  faculties.  You  know,  his  seat  at  church  was  almost 
under  the  pulpit,  so  that  I  could  see  him  quite  plainly, 
yet  in  the  last  year  or  two  I  could  perceive  that,  even 
in  the  most  interesting  parts  of  my  sermons,  his  eye 
would  wander  off." 


208  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"What !"  I  exclaimed.     "Even  in  the  most  interest 


ing— 

"Yes,  Charles,  even  at  the  most  interesting  portions 
an  absent  expression  would  creep  into  your  dear  fa 
ther's  face." 

"A  bad  sign,  Mr.  Aiken,"  said  I. 

"Yes,"  he  replied.  "Age  will  have  these  effects  on 
some.  For  my  own  part,  God  has  seen  fit  even  to  add, 
I  hope,  to  my  own  powers  of  mind,  such  as  they  are." 

Such  I  assured  him  was  visibly  the  case. 

"I  never  heard  you  with  more  pleasure  in  my  life," 
I  exclaimed.  "And  now,  tell  me,  how  are  you  getting 
on  with  your  book  ?" 

"Alas,  I  have  added  only  three  chapters,  my  boy, 
since  you  left  us,  only  three  or  four,  but  a  new  edition 
of  Catullus  is  so  demanded  in  all  parts  of  the  world  to 
day  that  I  can  well  afford  to  do  the  subject  justice.  Mr. 
Buecheler's  edition,  as  you  know,  is  very  defective,  for 
he  based  it  too  much  on  the  manuscript  Sangermanen- 
sis.  It  is  too  much  the  fashion  nowadays  to  discredit 
the  theories  of  the  early  commentators  such  as  Scaliger. 
Besides  the  interesting  constructions  I  used  to  mention 
to  you,  I  have  added  already  several  that  will  be  very 
entertaining,  I  am  confident.  The  metres,  I  find,  I  shall 
have  to  make  the  subject  of  a  special  volume.  I  have 
no  doubt  you  found  great  interest  in  these  studies  in 
New  York,  Charles?" 

"Very  great,  indeed,"  I  answered.  "Your  Catullus 
will  be  welcome." 

"Thank  you,  Charles,"  the  simple  man  replied. 
"Sometimes  I  fear  I  have  neglected  a  duty  in  remaining 
in  this  somewhat  narrow  field,  when  I  might  have  cut 
some  figure  in  the  great  city.  However,  my  book  will 


MY   OLD    HOME  209 

afford  a  good  introduction,  should  I  ever  deem  it  wise 
to  seek  that  field." 

After  the  dinner,  which  was  served  about  two,  I 
wandered  to  the  village  cemetery,  devoting  to  my 
mother's  memory  a  few  solitary  moments  by  her  grave. 
Strange  course  of  human  life,  which  can  admit  of 
worldly  ambition  when  everything  about  us  reminds 
us  of  the  tomb!  Unaccountable  delusion  that  makes 
life  appear  long  when  a  thousand  melancholy  proofs 
remind  us  that  it  is  only  a  passing  dream.  The  hearse 
that  bears  away  a  parent  does  not  alarm,  however  much 
it  may  grieve,  the  offspring,  to  whom  longevity  has  no 
expiration.  Generation  following  generation,  the  suc 
cessive  multitudes  cultivate  harvests  on  the  bones  of 
forgotten  peoples  and  consume  primeval  man.  Where 
are  they  now  who  wept  or  laughed  in  Babylon  or  As 
syria  ?  What  folly,  that  they  should  ever  have  grieved 
or  rejoiced  in  their  petty  lives,  whose  cities,  now 
blended  with  the  dust  of  their  kings  and  their  beggars, 
are  blown  by  the  four  winds  and  buried  beneath  impen 
etrable  sands!  Yet  here,  in  a  village,  ambition  con 
tends  with  ambition.  Here  in  a  country  churchyard 
pride,  separating  itself  from  the  graves  of  the  humble, 
will  not  be  given  to  the  worms  except  in  fine  company. 

Twilight  came  on  before  I  quitted  a  spot  in  which 
memory  paid  to  the  most  sacred  of  ties  the  last  of  my 
tears.  The  world  had  not  yet  made  me  sordid  or  wholly 
selfish,  but  it  had  raised  in  me  as  to  the  uses  of  human 
existence,  the  teachings  of  religion,  and  the  immortality 
of  the  soul  those  doubts  so  fatal  to  tranquillity  of  mind. 
A  mound  of  earth  like  this  must  be,  I  reflected,  my  own 
lot,  too.  Why  should  I  hope  to  rise  from  that  cold 
bed  again?  Generations  interred  before  me  in  this 


2io  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

very  spot  were  still  expecting  the  call  that  all  ages  had 
been  expecting  but  no  age  had  ever  heard.  Mystery 
inscrutable !  Billions  of  thinking  beings  during  thou 
sands  upon  thousands  of  years  had  tortured  their  wits 
in  vain  to  find  an  answer.  By  the  Ganges,  the  Niger 
and  the  Mississippi  the  universal  voice  of  mankind  in 
prayer  and  sacrifice  has  begged  the  heavens  to  reveal  a 
visible  God,  yet  the  eternal  secret  remains.  Neither 
philosophy  nor  science  has  added  in  countless  ages  a 
single  demonstration  of  another  life,  nor  faith  nor 
pious  supplication  brought  back  one  soul  to  tell  us  of 
our  heaven. 


CHAPTER  XLIV 
MY   UNCLE'S    DEATH 

Y\7 HEN  I  arrived  in  New  York  I  found  the  Olcotts 
^  ^  the  happiest  of  mortals  in  a  suite  of  rooms  plain 
ly  above  their  means,  though  sufficiently  inferior  to 
their  inclinations  to  leave  them  the  pleasure  of  economy 
even  in  extravagance.  We  had  several  happy  dinners, 
the  more  joyous  because  the  Senator's  letter  had  al 
ready  obtained  the  attractive  Olcott  a  good  place  in 
Wall  Street.  Meanwhile,  not  a  word  came  from  the 
Jenkinsons  except  a  few  lines  of  reproach  from  the 
mother,  who  vowed  the  young  pair  had  broken  her 
heart. 

I  was  none  too  busy  as  a  reporter  to  keep  an  eye  on 
Albany.  Of  Conners,  though,  I  could  learn  nothing, 
notwithstanding  careful  inquiry  was  made  for  me  by 
a  friendly  reporter  in  that  city.  Meanwhile  a  chat  with 
Lillian  threw  no  other  light  on  affairs  than  that  my 
uncle  was  very  ill,  nor  should  I  have  had  further  con 
cern  about  her  relations  with  him,  had  I  not  felt  from 
her  manner  instead  of  her  words  that  in  some  degree 
or  other  the  old  rake  had  entrusted  something  to  her 
control.  The  beauty's  good  nature  never  failed  her  in 
her  talks,  so  it  was  impossible  to  become  vexed  with 
her  secrecy. 

But  how  can  I  forget  that  eventful  afternoon,  just  a 

211 


212  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

few  days  later,  when,  while  I  was  actually  in  conver 
sation  with  her,  our  eyes  happened  to  light  on  the  head 
lines  of  an  early  edition  of  an  evening  newspaper.  My 
uncle  had  died  two  hours  before ! 

"My  God !"  exclaimed  Lillian. 

For  a  few  moments  neither  of  us  could  say  a  word, 
as  we  slowly  raised  our  eyes. 

"Charles,"  she  said  quickly,  "go,  dear  man,  go  home! 
I  can't  tell  you  why  I  would  rather  not  talk.  Go,  dear 
boy,  at  once.  Let  us  wait  and  see  the  result  of  it  all." 

•Certainly  she  was  deeply  affected,  so  I  left  her  at 
once,  while  I  searched  the  newspapers  for  further  tid 
ings  as  I  rushed  along  the  streets.  Of  his  will  nothing 
was  yet  stated. 

What  should  I  do?  To  go  to  Albany  was  probably 
to  make  myself  a  laughing-stock.  It  was  impossible 
that  any  will  he  might  have  made  years  ago  in  my 
favour,  supposing  Conners'  report  to  be  true,  had  sur 
vived  his  subsequent  detestation  of  me. 

The  only  thing  to  do  was  to  wait,  which  I  did,  with 
little  sleep.  To  hang  between  poverty  and  riches  is  a 
woeful  balance. 

But,  great  joy  at  last,  there  came  a  telegram  from 
the  dead  man's  lawyers  requiring  my  presence.  No 
will  had  been  found.  They  would  not  say  that  all  hope 
of  finding  one  had  been  given  up,  but  so  little  probabil 
ity  remained  that  I  must  come  at  once  as  heir. 

Olcott  becoming  now  my  chief  adviser,  we  repaired 
to  Albany.  The  funeral  had  already  occurred  and  the 
fruitless  search  for  the  will  was  continued.  With  some 
hypocrisy  I  made  suggestions  in  aid  of  the  others, 
though  ready  to  die  of  disappointment  if  anything 
should  come  of  my  advice,  for,  as  everybody  about  the 


MY   UNCLE'S    DEATH  213 

old  gentleman  in  his  lifetime  had  more  reason  than  I 
to  induce  his  making  a  will  and  to  preserve  it  when 
made,  and  as  they  had,  at  all  events,  nothing  to  gain 
by  his  dying  intestate,  I  had  let  myself  become  pretty 
sanguine  because  no  will  had  already  turned  up. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  deference  I  began  to  ex 
perience  from  everybody  connected  with  the  estate, 
even  from  old  Maria  Dole,  who  split  her  hard  face  from 
time  to  time  in  cold  smiles  that  did  not  deceive  me  a 
moment.  Her  disappointment,  it  was  plain,  w'as  equal 
to  my  elation. 

The  next  day  or  two  after  my  arrival  all  of  us,  includ 
ing  the  servants,  were  called  to  the  office  of  Messrs. 
Workman  &  Sham,  counsel  for  my  uncle  while  he  lived. 
These  gentlemen,  desirous  of  finding  the  will  if  it  ex 
isted,  were  at  the  same  time  desirous  of  offending  no 
body  who  might  succeed  to  the  estate.  In  examining 
the  familiars  of  the  household  they  were,  therefore, 
exceedingly  polite,  leaning,  however,  in  my  direction 
already,  as  everything  indicated  my  succession. 

"I  am  free  to  say,"  said  Workman,  "that  our  office, 
about  three  years  ago,  prepared  a  will  for  Mr.  Cam 
eron,  but  whether  he  ever  executed  it  or  not  I  can't 
recall." 

"Those  are  my  recollections  in  the  matter,"  added 
Sham. 

"Well,  if  he  went  to  the  expense  of  having  you  draw 
his  will,  why  shouldn't  he  execute  it?"  asked  Maria. 

"Upon  my  word,  Mrs.  Dole,  I  can't  answer  as  to 
that,"  replied  Workman. 

"You  were  his  legal  advisers,  weren't  you,  lawyers  in 
his  pay  to  see  that  everything  was  done  right?"  con 
tinued  the  woman. 


214  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Certainly,  ma'am,  certainly,"  the  lawyer  answered. 

"Then  why  don't  you  know  whether  he  executed  it 
or  not?"  she  asked. 

"The  matter  was  too  delicate,  entirely  too  delicate, 
for  us  to  press " 

"Oh,  I  suppose  there'll  be  more  lawsuits  this  way," 
retorted  the  angry  Dole,  beginning  at  last  to  lose  her 
temper  and  much  disliking  the  friendly  glances  I  re 
ceived  from  eminent  counsel. 

"Now,  madam,"  replied  Workman,  "that  kind  of 
talk  will  have  to  cease." 

"Well,  you  know  as  well  as  I  do  that  I  was  remem 
bered  in  the  will  that  was  drawn  in  this  very  office, 
don't  you  ?"  cried  the  lady.  "Answer  that,  now." 

"On  that  score,  madam,"  answered  Workman,  "we 
have  nothing  to  say.  If  there  is  no  will,  what  might 
have  been  put  in  it  is  of  no  importance.  If  there  is  one, 
it  wrill  speak  for  itself." 

"There,  now,  you  don't  deny  it — but,  no  matter,  I 
guess  I  can  hire  lawyers  to  do  my  talking.  I'll  have 
you  gentlemen  give  your  testimony  in  the  proper  place. 
All  I  have  to  say  is  that  George  Cameron  told  me  not 
a  month  before  he  died  that  I  was  down  in  his  will  for 
something  plenty,  me  and  the  servants  here  that  had 
stood  by  him  all  his  life,  and  that  he  hadn't  kin  in  the 
world  that  was  to  have  a  dollar,  much  less  these  smooth 
young  people  here  from  New  York." 

She  was  now  in  a  considerable  heat,  unable,  in  fact, 
to  control  herself.  The  servants  also  viewed  me  with 
unfriendly  looks,  so,  both  from  policy  and  kindness,  I 
stated  that  I  should  be  happy  indeed  to  see  that  those 
who  had  been  faithful  to  my  uncle  should  not  lose  by  it. 

"Oh,  it's  to  be  charity,  is  it  ?"  exclaimed  Maria.    "I'll 


MY   UNCLE'S   DEATH  215 

have  you  understand,  Mr.  Cameron,  all  we  want  after 
these  years  is  what  belongs  to  us." 

*  That's  what  I  say,"  muttered  the  footman,  while 
the  butler,  a  trifle  cautious,  declared  he  wanted  no  more 
from  any  man  than  what  was  right. 

"How  much  did  Mr.  Cameron  say  he  had  left  you, 
Mrs.  Dole?"  inquired  Olcott. 

"I'll  answer  that,  young  man,  when  you  tell  me  what 
business  it  is  of  yours,"  retorted  she,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  my  life  I  saw  Olcott  in  confusion. 

However,  recovering  himself  quickly,  he  said :  "All 
I  care  to  say  is  that  I  feel  I  express  Mr.  Cameron's  de 
sires  here  in  saying  that  these  servants  are  going  to  be 
remembered.  I  mean  all  the  servants,  including  Mrs. 
Dole." 

"Oh,  you  put  me  in  with  the  servants,  thank  you," 
cried  Maria,  deeply  enraged. 

Here  she  made  a  bad  mistake,  for  nobody  is  regarded 
with  more  discontent  than  a  housekeeper  by  the  ser 
vants  beneath  her,  so  the  butler  voiced  the  general  dis 
sent  of  allies  so  useful  to  her  in  case  of  litigation,  say 
ing: 

"I'll  be  obliged  to  you,  Mrs.  Dole,  if  you'll  not  be 
drawing  distinctions  .here,  which  is  not  in  business 
hours  and  none  of  us  on  duty." 

Quick  to  see  her  mistake,  she  cried : 

"I  tell  you  I  know  what  was  in  that  will,  and  you 
were  remembered  in  it  the  same  as  myself,  you  that  are 
so  eager  to  listen  to  this  smooth  talk." 

But  the  butler  was  now  pleased  to  show  his  ability 
in  debate  as  a  man  of  the  world. 

"Just  leave  these  matters  to  me.  I'm  able  to  take 
care  of  myself  a  bit,  I  flatter  me." 


216  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Don't  you  see  you're  only  a  child  in  their  hands?" 
she  cried. 

"Well,  I  like  that/'  sneered  the  man.  "Humph !  I'll 
have  you  bear  in  mind  I'm  just  as  good  a  scholar  as 
yourself,  Maria  Dole." 

This  last  presumption  of  calling  her  by  her  mere 
name  so  enraged  the  woman  that  she  all  but  screamed, 
for  in  adversity,  as  nothing  touches  our  hearts  more 
than  fidelity  in  servants,  so  nothing  more  exasperates 
us  than  their  impudence  when  they  see  us  stripped  of 
power.  For  a  moment  we  feared  she  would  strike  him. 
Then  without  another  word  she  flung  the  door  behind 
her  and  was  gone. 


CHAPTER  XLV 
MY   MILLIONS 

WERY  glad  to  be  rid  of  her,  we  continued  our  talk, 
the  servants  pleased  to  see  somebody  humbled 
who  had  been  above  them  before,  and  quite  hopeful,  of 
compensation  from  me,  who  was  now  accepted  as  cer 
tainly  the  heir.  The  search  was  resumed,  to  be  sure, 
everything  turned  upside-down  wherever  the  least  pos 
sibility  was  imagined  of  finding  the  document,  but 
after  a  week  it  was  officially  announced  that,  the  de 
ceased  leaving  no  will,  administration  would  be  had, 
that  I  should  be  the  administrator,  and  after  a  year  or 
the  like  possess  the  millions  entirely  as  the  exclusive 
heir. 

We  immediately  gave  the  servants  a  small  present, 
saying  we  should  do  better  when  the  estate  was  dis 
tributed.  As  for  Maria,  we  had  no  occasion  to  dismiss 
her,  since  she  removed  her  effects  in  advance.  I  saw, 
though,  that  she  would  give  us  such  trouble  as  she 
could. 

My  apprehensions  were  not  made  easier  by  my  being 
approached,  before  I  returned  to  New  York,  by  the 
discreet  Conners,  who  had  generally  avoided  all  of  us, 
and  whose  looks  now  became  exceedingly  knowing. 

"Oh,  you're  Conners  now,  are  you  ?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,  sir,"  he  answered  as  coolly  as  usual,  "and  I 

217 


218  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

believe  I  have  the  honour,  sir,  to  be  addressing  Mr. 
Cameron  ?" 

"No  matter  about  that,  Conners.  What  do  you 
want?" 

I  felt  confident,  because  the  will  this  man  was  sup 
posed  to  know  of  was  in  my  favour,  though  the  matter 
troubled  me. 

The  creature  then  fell  to  mysterious  hints  of  his  use 
fulness,  intimating  that  there  was  no  reason  why  poor 
men  should  impart  valuable  information,  any  more  than 
valuable  services,  without  valuable  consideration. 

"Look  here,  Conners,"  I  said,  "I  know  already  from 
Senator  Baxom  that  a  will  you  pretend  to  have  seen 
bequeathed  me  all  this  property.  You  said  that,  didn't 
you,  now?" 

"I  don't  remember,  sir,  ever  saying  any  such  thing. 
No,  sir.  I  can't  help  thinking,  sir,  you  mightn't  be  too 
well  pleased  with  what  I  did  see." 

Determined  not  to  be  blackmailed,  I  left  him  with  a 
determination  that  he  should  be  watched.  As  soon  as 
I  was  again  in  New  York,  with  an  hour  to  spare,  I 
hastened  to  see  Lillian,  whose  humour  in  this  situation 
was  unknown  to  me,  inasmuch  as  she  had  not  in  the 
least  degree  evinced  curiosity  or  broken  silence.  She, 
at  least,  I  was  now  quite  sure,  expected  nothing. 

She  rallied  me  pleasantly. 

"Oh,  brother  Charles/'  she  exclaimed,  "you're  happy 
at  last  ?  Well !  You're  not  afraid  of  bugaboo  Lillian 
any  longer,  are  you — the  scheming  Lillian,  the  wicked 
Lillian  ?  Lord !  what  monsters  we  women  of  the  stage 
are  supposed  to  be !" 

"But,  Lillian,"  I  responded,  "laugh  as  you  will,  you 


MY   MILLIONS  219 

beautiful,  clever  thing,  you  did  know  something,  you 
do  know  something  now — this  minute,  don't  you?" 

"I  know,  pretty  Charlie,"  said  she,  "that  Hanbor- 
ough's  new  play  for  me  is  a  wonder.  I  believe  it  will 
turn  the  town  crazy.  Why  don't  you  write,  too, 
Charles  ?  No,  anything  I  know  about  your  uncle's  af 
fairs  will  do  you  no  harm." 

This  was  the  most  I  could  learn,  and  I  was  satisfied. 


CHAPTER  XLVI 
DEPARTURE   TO    EUROPE 

IMAGINE,  if  you  can,  the  manner  in  which  I  endeav- 
A  cured  to  bear  myself  in  so  much  good  fortune.  The 
possession  of  money  gave  me  a  new  importance,  re 
flected  immediately  in  the  demeanour  of  everybody  to 
wards  me,  even  in  that  of  the  Olcotts. 

Striving  to  be  cool,  I  was,  nevertheless,  a  good  deal 
turned  in  my  head.  While  I  had  no  cash  that  I  could 
call  my  own,  I  had,  especially  in  Albany,  a  first-class 
credit.  In  New  York  everybody  liked  to  see  me  spend 
ing  money.  One  could  live  only  once,  they  said ;  why 
should  one  save  money  to  leave  to  others  after  one's 
death?  Tailors  particularly  lauded  these  epicurean 
maxims,  and  I  had  no  less  than  twenty  suits  of  clothes 
in  the  first  month.  Passing  most  of  my  time  in  New 
York,  I  extravagantly  maintained  the  house  in  Albany, 
where  grocers,  butchers  and  wine  vendors  bowed  to 
receive  my  orders  magnificently,  as  well  as  wastefully, 
given  by  the  fat  butler.  No  class  of  people  are  more 
contemptible  than  small  tradesmen.  When  you  pay 
promptly  they  cannot  look  higher  than  your  knees; 
when  you  are  in  arrears  they  become  insolent  about 
people  who  are  living  beyond  their  means;  but  when 
you  pay  again,  even  though  they  know  you  will  soon 
be  in  further  arrears,  they  laud  your  fine  taste  and  en- 

220 


DEPARTURE   TO   EUROPE       221 

courage  your  extravagant  orders  only  to  insult  you  on 
some  later  day. 

All  this  happiness  soon  attracted  both  notice  and 
envy.  The  newspapers  had  full  accounts  of  my  good 
luck,  with  photographs  that  were  said  to  be  true.  My 
inheritance  of  about  three  millions  was  sometimes  six, 
sometimes  ten,  and  never  three  millions.  The  world 
of  fashion,  affecting  to  regard  my  money  as  no  added 
charm,  was  pleased  to  remember  me  now  by  reason 
of  the  fine  blood  I  came  of  and  my  polished  manners. 
Many  smart  young  gentlemen  I  had  met  during  my 
services  to  Mrs.  Oldworth  were  kind  enough  to  have 
the  most  particular  recollection  of  me  and  to  have  been 
wondering  all  the  while  where  I  had  been  so  foolish  as 
to  obscure  myself  from  the  world.  Everybody  liked 
me.  Mothers  of  stupid  daughters  had  been  panting  all 
summer  to  know  me.  Would  I  be  at  Cairo  next  win 
ter?  Surely  I  would  spend  a  month  at  Nice.  I  dis 
covered,  too,  that  I  was  very  witty,  could  win  applause 
in  my  dullest  mood.  I  adopted  languid  oaths  and  be 
came  famous  for  tips.  In  my  rising  elegance  I  met 
again  the  circle  around  Mrs.  Oldworth,  having  occa 
sional  chats  with  her,  but  hesitating  somewhat  to  at 
tempt  intimacy  again.  Trixy,  fortunately,  was  out  of 
town. 

All  these  fine  associations  might  have  removed  me 
above  Olcott,  but  that  youth  had  been  by  no  means  in 
active.  Turning  to  account  every  influence  he  had, 
including  my  own  exaggerated  resources  and  the  re 
puted  wealth  of  his  father-in-law,  he  got  advantages 
in  a  broker's  office  sufficient  to  make  one  day  an  inordi 
nate  profit  of  about  fifty  thousand  dollars.  With  this, 
which  was,  of  course,  to  be  but  the  beginning-  of  mil- 


222  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

lions,  he  entered  upon  all  the  extravagance  of  a  success 
ful  financier. 

A  pretty  pair  we  were.  After  a  gluttonous  dinner 
we  would  smoke  expensive  cigars  while  discussing  af 
fairs  before  the  admiring  Mary  in  the  manner  some 
times  of  dashing  young  men  of  fashion,  sometimes  of 
thoughtful  captains  of  industry. 

"Now,  I  don't  believe,  Olcott,  in  extravagance.  A 
fellow  must  cut  according  to  his  cloth.  Some  men  in 
my  situation  would  lose  their  heads,  spending,  say, 
half  a  million  in  his  yacht.  I'm  not  that  kind  of  a  man. 
I'll  not  have  the  town  laughing  at  me  as  a  fool  with 
money.  No,  sir !  I'm  going  to  be  satisfied  with  a  com 
fortable  little  craft  within  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  dollars,  and  I'm  not  going  to  have  a  great,  expen 
sive  crew  on  her,  either." 

This  would  be  applauded  by  Olcott  as  showing  my 
characteristic  good  sense,  after  which  we  would  fall  to 
discussing  details  of  the  vessel  and  perhaps  divide  in 
opinion  on  some  such  trifle  as  the  form  of  my  mono 
gram  on  the  glasses,  though  the  keel  had  not  been  laid 
or  ordered  or  I  possessed  of  a  dollar  to  be  called  my 
own  within  a  year. 

As  nothing  succeeds  like  success,  Olcott's  first  ven 
ture  in  the  stock  market,  reported  with  much  exaggera 
tion  by  Mary  to  her  parents,  began  to  thaw  the  Jenkin- 
sons  apace,  so  that  it  was  not  long  before  the  mother 
found  occasion  to  shop  in  New  York,  where  she  speed 
ily  capitulated  to  the  fascinating  Olcott.  The  old  man 
made,  some  time  later,  a  more  surly  surrender,  and,  in 
order  to  reserve  some  ground  of  objection,  declared  he 
had  a  very  bad  opinion  of  me. 

"Hang  me !"  exclaimed  Olcott,  "this  marrying  is  the 


DEPARTURE   TO    EUROPE        223 

only  way  to  live,  and  it's  your  turn  now.  The  time  has 
come  for  you  to  have  Betty  Sinclair.  If  you  can't  get 
her  peaceably,  take  her  by  force." 

"Olcott,"  I  replied,  "the  way  that  old  devil  of  a 
father  treated  me  settled  that  business  in  my  mind.  I'm 
going  to  do  that  very  thing.  All  I  have  to  do  is  to  say 
the  word  to  Betty.  I  know  that  girl." 

"Spoken  like  a  man,  Charles,"  said  he.  "If  she 
loves  you  as  Mary  Jenkinson  loved  me " 

"Olcott,  there's  not  another  man  in  the  world  I'd 
say  it  to  except  you,  but  that  dear  little  woman  dotes 
on  me,  just  dotes  on  me,  you  understand,  and  I'm  not 
going  to  let  her  suffer  any  longer.  When  I  hadn't  a 
dollar  in  the  world  she  was  willing  to  risk  everything 
for  me.  Now  it's  my  turn  to  help  the  little  girl.  I'll 
not  let  any  woman  fret  herself  to  death  under  the  im 
pression  that  a  man  has  been  ungrateful." 

These  sentiments,  communicated  to  Mary,  who  in 
finitely  enjoyed  them,  ended  in  my  arranging  that  au 
tumn,  upon  money  borrowed  like  the  rest  of  my  re 
cently  acquired  funds,  a  short  trip  to  France  in  order 
to  see  Betty,  from  whom  I  had  not  had  a  word  since 
her  departure.  Through  Mrs.  Oldworth  I  learned  her 
exact  address,  though  it  was  agreed  my  coming  should 
be  kept  a  secret,  both  to  afford  Betty  a  sweet  surprise 
and  to  keep  the  matter  from  her  parents,  as  to  whose 
humour  towards  me  we  were  uncertain,  notwithstand 
ing  the  notoriety  of  my  good  fortune. 

The  day  before  my  sailing  I  called  to  say  good-bye 
to  Mrs.  Oldworth,  who,  as  I  have  said,  was  forgetting 
my  blunder,  and  who  disquieted  me  greatly  by  a  bit  of 
news. 

"You  are  starting,  Mr.  Cameron,  none  too  soon." 


224  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Why  so?"  I  inquired. 

"Betty  is  to  be  married." 

"Married?" 

"Yes,  to  young  Catesby.  Her  mother  so  wires  from 
Mentone  to  her  friends  at  home.  To  be  frank,  I  don't 
like  it." 

I  assure  you  I  didn't  like  it,  either,  but  I  kept  my 
chagrin,  as  far  as  I  could,  to  myself,  even  murmuring 
some  commonplace  indifference. 

My  next  adieu  was  to  Lillian. 

"So  Adonis  is  invading  Europe,  is  he?"  she  ex 
claimed,  patting  me  on  the  cheeks.  "Aren't  you  afraid 
the  bad  people  will  steal  your  fortune  while  you're 
away?" 

"Why,  Lillian,  I'm  becoming  sensible  about  this  busi 
ness.  Either  way  I  win.  If  there's  no  will,  it's  all 
mine  by  law.  Now,  if  there  is  a  will,  the  only  one  ever 
heard  of  bequeathed  practically  all  to  me." 

"Here,  you're  a  lucky  boy,"  she  exclaimed.  "I'll  let 
you  kiss  me  good-bye.  Now,  don't  be  greedy!  Only 
here,  on  the  cheek,  and  just  a  little  one." 

With  that  I  hurried  away,  and  was  greatly  perplexed 
as  I  left  the  entrance  of  the  building  to  see  John  Con- 
ners  making  his  way  to  one  of  the  elevators. 

On  the  day  of  my  departure  the  Olcotts  were  in  high 
spirits.  Mary  vowed  she  would  begin  that  day  her 
preparations  to  make  Betty  comfortable.  Even  the  date 
of  our  return  was  agreed  on.  Moreover,  to  all  my 
plans  the  obedience  of  Betty  was  reckoned  by  them  and 
the  most  sanguine  pictures  imagined  of  her  emotions 
at  seeing  me,  for  I  confess  I  had  been  too  proud  to  let 
them  have  a  hint  of  Mrs.  Oldworth's  bad  tidings. 

At  length  I  set  sail  and  for  the  first  time  was  out  of 


DEPARTURE   TO    EUROPE        225 

the  boundaries  of  my  native  land.  I  was  deeply  anx 
ious  to  see  Betty  again.  Indeed,  the  best  thing  I  can 
recall  of  myself  during  that  vain  period  was  that  not 
for  a  moment  did  I  lose  my  gratitude  towards  her.  In 
a  fair  way  to  be  spoiled  by  the  world  and  to  be  made 
selfish  with  so  much  false  attention,  I  still  had  seen 
enough  adversity  to  remain  true  to  real  goodness.  Be 
sides,  what  I  had  learned  from  Mrs.  Oldworth,  though 
I  refused  to  believe  it,  stimulated  my  zeal.  I  may  add 
that  her  own  silence,  which  I  had  never  reckoned  on 
as  possible  towards  me,  piqued  my  curiosity  in  a  way 
extremely  serviceable  to  the  god  of  love. 

I  was  now  extremely  happy.  Everything  in  the 
world  seemed  properly  arranged,  and,  as  I  looked 
about,  I  felt  the  poor  were  lucky  to  be  poor  in  such  an 
age  as  this.  Since  then  I  have  learned  that  there  is  yet 
to  occur  a  change  in  the  rights  of  property  among  men. 
I  hope  this  will  occur.  I  wish  the  world  to  be  thor 
oughly  reformed  after  I  am  dead. 


CHAPTER  XLVII 
I    AM    AT    SEA 

T^HERE  are  few  places  in  which  human  vanity  and 
conceit  are  more  certain  to  betray  or  vaunt  them 
selves  than  the  deck  of  a  fine  ocean  steamer.  For  my 
own  part,  I  was  at  first  disposed  to  affect  an  air  of  ex 
clusive  dullness  after  the  manner  in  vogue  nowadays, 
so  different,  by  the  way,  from  that  of  the  dashing  and 
talkative  dandies  of  the  eighteenth  century;  but  the 
novelty  of  the  voyage  so  raised  my  spirits  that  I  could 
not  avoid  the  rudeness  of  letting  others  see  that  I  was 
enjoying  myself. 

The  place  assigned  me  at  the  table  was  according 
to  the  fortune  rumour  had  bestowed  upon  me.  I  was 
seated  not  a  great  way  from  the  Captain,  among  sev 
eral  ladies  of  great  fashion  and  several  gentlemen  by 
no  means  unknown  in  the  world  of  finance.  The  ladies, 
I  soon  found,  were  nearly  prostrated  at  having  to  leave 
their  husbands  behind.  One  of  them  complained  that 
her  spouse  was  on  the  verge  of  nervous  prostration 
from  overwork,  and  another  that  hers  was  plainly  in  a 
decline,  while  they  agreed  that  it  was  far  better  the 
poor  devils  should  continue  to  make  money  at  home 
while  their  wives  suffered  exile  in  the  flowery  Riviera. 
Indeed,  they  would  not  have  thought  of  such  a  thing 
as  leaving  their  dear  husbands  if  they  had  not  felt  it  a 

226 


I   AM   AT   SEA  227 

positive  duty  to  themselves.  One  of  them  had  sneezed 
twice  this  autumn.  The  other  had  found  decollete  per 
ilous  in  the  harsh  climate  of  New  York. 

The  gentlemen  present,  as  became  good  Americans, 
conceded  in  their  opinions  what  was  due  to  so  delicate 
a  race  of  women  as  ours,  some  of  whom  are  occasion 
ally  expected  even  to  bear  a  child.  Their  own  wives 
were  already  in  Europe,  had  been  there,  in  fact,  the 
greater  part  of  the  year,  but  they  were  determined  to  see 
a  bit  of  each  other  now  and  then.  An  Englishwoman 
being  asked  for  her  opinion,  admitted  with  some  em 
barrassment,  that  this  was  the  first  time  she  had  ever 
been  separated  from  her  lord,  who  gave  her  no  vaca 
tions  except  such  as  he  took  with  her.  This  causing 
her  husband  to  be  censured  and  even  to  be  regarded 
as  oppressive,  the  little  woman  protested  it  all  came  of 
her  not  wishing  to  leave  him  herself.  Finally  being  put 
upon  her  spirit  by  some  hints  of  being  a  trifle  weak, 
the  good  dame  vowed  such  separations  as  those  of 
American  couples  were  unknown  in  France,  England 
or  Germany,  that  old-country  manners  discountenanced 
them,  and  that  for  the  most  part  it  is  better  American 
women  should  not  discover  just  how  much  European 
wives  condemned  them  for  the  long  absences  they  took 
from  hard-worked  husbands  on  the  plea  of  their  own 
health  or  the  children's  education. 

The  talk  being  now  in  an  unamiable  current,  it  was 
arrested  by  one  of  the  ladies  who  had  as  yet  said  noth 
ing  at  all.  She  was  a  singularly  noble-looking  person, 
a  trifle  past  forty,  and  richly,  though  not  gaudily,  at 
tired. 

"I  have  lived,"  she  said,  aa  great  many  years  in  for 
eign  countries,  though  an  American,  as  you  see,  and 


228  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

with  each  year  I  think  more  sadly  of  all  this  travel 
abroad.  It  is  a  bad  thing  for  our  own  country,  it  seems 
to  me,  no  matter  whether  couples  take  it  singly  or  to 
gether,  for  we  stay  so  long  that  finally  we  do  not  care 
to  return  at  all.  What  makes  it  worse  is  the  increas 
ing  separation  of  families.  What  has  just  been  said 
is  true.  European  women  might  respect  us  a  good  deal 
more  than  they  do." 

Upon  this  she  quitted  the  table,  where  the  subject 
was  dropped,  everybody  feeling  the  truth  of  what  she 
said,  besides  some  curiosity  as  to  what  might  be  her 
own  situation,  for  both  dignity  and  sorrow  were  plain 
enough  in  her  face.  Drawn  to  her  by  something  which 
deeply  interested  me,  while  I  could  not  explain  what  it 
was,  I  resolved  to  see  her  frequently  during  the 
journey. 

With  this  in  view  I  would  often  sit  beside  her  in  one 
of  the  deck  chairs,  for  it  was  neither  too  cold  nor  too 
rough  to  be  out  of  doors  in  an  autumn  unusually  mild. 
Not  a  word  betrayed,  however,  why  she  was  alone  or 
how  long  she  had  been  in  the  United  States  during  her 
brief  return.  Her  home  was  at  Mentone  and  her  name 
Egerton.  No  word  about  either  husband  or  child  was 
let  fall.  Money  she  appeared  to  have  in  abundance, 
nor  was  there  any  part  in  the  world  in  which  she  had 
not  travelled  except  the  interior  of  Asia  and  Africa, 
and  she  could  talk  in  as  many  languages  as  Von  Moltke 
could  be  silent  in. 

"You  are  very  kind,  Mr.  Cameron,"  said  she  one 
day,  "to  give  me  so  much  of  your  company,  when  we 
can  see  about  us  a  number  of  young  women  and  girls." 

Not  attempting  the  trifling  flattery  or  affectation  of 
sentiment  which  so  dignified  a  person  as  she  seemed 


I   AM   AT   SEA  229 

to  be  above  accepting,  I  told  her  simply  enough  that  I 
was  quite  sure  1  had  found  a  friend,  as  there  was  some 
thing  in  her  features  that  continually  reminded  me  of 
some  one  I  had  known  before. 

"It  is  strange,"  she  replied,  "but  I  have  a  dozen 
times  had  in  mind  the  same  idea  about  you.  However, 
from  what  you  tell  me  about  your  life,  it  is  plain  I  never 
saw  you  before." 

"Perhaps,"  I  answered,  "if  you  would  be  as  frank 
with  me  about  yourself  I  might  be  able  to  remember 
something,  but  I  am  sure  you  will  not  take  amiss  my 
mentioning  the  fact  that  you  never  have  given  me  even 
a  hint  of  how  your  life  has  been  spent." 

"I  don't  take  it  amiss,  Mr.  Cameron,"  responded 
she;  "on  an  ocean  voyage  the  acquaintances  of  a  few 
days  seem  as  near  to  us  as  those  of  many  months 
ashore,  so  they  have  some  of  their  privileges.  It  is 
an  unhappy  subject,  though.  Perhaps  I  shall  talk  to 
you  about  myself  some  day.  Don't  imagine  that  you 
have  been  too  inquisitive.  Let  us  talk  meanwhile  of 
Betty." 

Of  my  love  affair  I  had  told  her  all,  for  she  had  taken 
a  great  interest  in  it,  the  more  so  as,  from  Betty's  being 
then  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mentone,  I  should  have 
to  go  there  and  she  might  see  us  together. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII 
ACQUAINTANCE   AT    SEA 

T  HAD  not  been  long  on  the  ship  before  I  formed  a 
:  pleasant  acquaintance  with  a  young  mining  man 
from  Colorado,  who  was  destined  to  have  later  a  dis 
agreeable  part  in  my  life,  and  who,  after  a  while,  in 
formed  me  that,  having  recently  made  a  fortune,  he 
had  set  out  to  enjoy  it.  His  seat  being  at  another  table, 
he  had  been  thrown  in  with  a  mother  and  daughter,  of 
whom  he  had  already  become  weary. 

"The  old  fool,"  said  he  to  me,  "has  made  up  her 
mind  that  I  shall  marry  that  pug-nosed  girl,  so  I  get 
no  peace  with  her  attentions.  For  God's  sake,  take  the 
pair  off  my  hands." 

"Ask  me  any  favour  but  that,  Sanderson,"  I  replied, 
"and  I'll  do  it.  You're  certainly  in  bad  luck." 

The  women  were  from  a  town  in  Western  Massachu 
setts.  They  were  both  voluble  talkers  on  topics  which 
men  commonly  regard  with  indifference,  the  affairs 
of  churches,  the  reform  of  dress,  and  the  education  of 
the  young.  With  all  this  sort  of  thing  Sanderson  was 
bored  not  only  at  meals,  when  he  sat  next  to  them,  but 
as  often  on  deck  as  they  could  waylay  him  in  their  ef 
forts  to  bring  his  fortune  to  New  England,  for  it  was 
understood  from  external  circumstances  that  they  had 
none  of  their  own. 

230 


ACQUAINTANCE   AT    SEA        231 

"Curse  me!"  exclaimed  Sanderson  one  afternoon, 
"are  the  girls  in  New  England  born  old  ?  I  never  saw 
one  in  my  life  that  wasn't  past  thirty." 

"Why  don't  you  unload  all  this  trouble  on  some 
other  man  at  your  table?"  I  inquired. 

"What  kind  of  a  question  is  that  to  ask  ?"  he  replied. 
"Do  you  think  there  is  a  fool  on  board  who  would  take 
her  off  my  hands  ?" 

After  considering  some  time  his  having  his  seat 
changed  and  finding  no  change  possible  that  would  be 
tolerable,  we  set  our  wits  to  working. 

"Sanderson,"  I  said,  "as  these  people  are  simply 
after  your  money,  they  would  be  after  another  fellow's 
just  as  soon.  Suppose  we  select  another  man  at  your 
table  and  set  them  upon  him  by  letting  them  believe 
he's  immensely  rich." 

"Well,  we  might  try  something  of  that  sort.  There's 
that  San  Francisco  tailor.  Let  us  see  how  we  could 
make  the  scheme  work." 

The  tailor  he  mentioned  we  knew  no  more  of  than 
that  some  one  had  told  us  such  was  his  occupation. 
Gustavsen  was  his  name  and  he  had  a  foreign  accent, 
which  led  us  to  the  still  better  plan  of  making  him  a 
German  baron.  One  idea  leading  to  another,  it  was 
finally  resolved  that  to  Gustavsen  we  should  drop  the 
hint  that  the  girl  was  very  rich,  as  well  as  enamoured 
of  him,  and  to  the  girl  and  her  mother  that  Gustavsen 
was  exceedingly  anxious  to  conceal  in  his  travels  one 
of  the  noblest  names  in  Germany. 

Within  an  hour  after  this  design  was  conceived  the 
opportunity  arose  to  set  it  in  action.  The  mother  ap 
proaching  us  on  deck,  I  drew  her  attention  to  Gustav- 


232  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

sen,  at  a  distance,  with  the  remark  that  I  supposed  she 
knew  all  about  him. 

"Not  a  word,"  she  replied,  "except  that  the  fellow's 
a  tailor  or  something  of  that  sort." 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Smith,"  I  replied,  "don't  mention  it 
to  any  one,  but  I  learn  in  strict  confidence  that  he  is  in 
reality  Baron  von  Bomberg  of  Baden-Baden." 

"You  don't  say  so!"  exclaimed  the  lady.  "Who 
started  this  story  of  his  being  only  a  tailor  ?" 

"He  did  himself,  to  get  rid  of  the  eternal  persecu 
tion  that  goes  on  in  our  country  by  newspaper  men 
and  the  like." 

"I  don't  blame  him,"  said  she.    "It's  a  national  evil." 

Seeing  new  graces  in  his  person,  she  passed  some 
favourable  comments,  after  which  the  girl  inquired 
whether  he  had  yet  been  captured  by  any  American 
family. 

"No,"  I  answered.  "He  has  little  need  to  seek  Amer 
ican  dollars.  In  point  of  fact,  he  is  as  rich  as  any 
of  us." 

The  ladies  from  this  time  began  to  cast  upon  the 
tailor  many  glances  that  did  not  fail  to  cause  him  to 
look  frequently  at  them  in  return,  and,  this  setting  the 
affair  properly  in  motion,  I  contrived  to  have  with  him 
an  occasional  word.  I  confess  the  fellow  was  not  so 
flattered  by  my  advances  as  to  make  them  particularly 
easy,  for,  notwithstanding  his  calling,  he  had  his  own 
notions  of  his  importance,  so  I  had  to  leave  this  part 
of  the  business  to  Sanderson,  who,  knowing  him  better, 
was  at  last  able  to  convey  a  hint  of  the  damsel's  infatu 
ation.  This  news  was  received  by  the  other  in  some 
indifference. 


ACQUAINTANCE   AT   SEA        233 

"Does  the  young  lady  understand,"  he  asked,  "that 
I  am  only  a  tailor  and  from  San  Francisco  ?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Sanderson,  "but  it  seems  to  make  no 
difference,  as  I  don't  see,  of  course,  why  it  should." 

"Thank  you  very  much,"  responded  the  tailor.  "I 
may  be  pardoned  for  wanting  to  know  her  better  under 
such  circumstances." 

AsGustavsen  thenceforward  began  to  pay  her  marked 
attentions,  and  as  we  lost  no  opportunity  to  put  in  his 
head  an  idea  of  the  shoe  factories  and  cotton  mills  she 
owned,  Sanderson  began  to  feel  immediate  relief  from 
the  company  of  the  Smiths,  the  two  sides  of  this  pecu 
liar  courtship  falling  to  work  with  a  will.  Both  the 
mother  and  the  daughter  would  from  time  to  time  en 
deavour  to  extract  from  the  Baron  some  reference  to 
his  rank  and  estates,  but  would  exaggerate  these  all 
the  more  from  his  replying  that  he  knew  little  else  of 
Germany  than  could  be  acquired  in  a  trip  there  occa 
sionally,  since  he  left  that  country  in  his  boyhood,  for 
his  reticence  and  modesty  now  became  to  them  the  con 
vincing  proof  of  deeply  established  consequence.  Mean 
while  Miss  Smith  began  to  revel  in  the  importance 
everybody  allowed  her  aboard.  Rumour  invested  the 
Baron  with  vast  estates  and  no  one  could  take  their  eyes 
off  these  three. 

"Thank  the  Lord,"  cried  Sanderson,  "I  have  escaped 
that  infernal  persecution  at  last !" 

Then  we  would  look  with  infinite  relish  on  Gustav- 
sen  and  Miss  Smith,  now  inseparable.  However,  as  the 
voyage  began  to  draw  to  a  close,  some  compunction 
arose  within  us  and  some  feelings  of  responsibility. 

"This  fellow,"  said  I,  "is  certainly  going  to  marry 


234  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

the  girl  unless  we  interfere.  Now,  one  of  us  mast  let 
her  know  the  facts  before  she  leaves  this  ship." 

To  this  Sanderson  assented,  adding  that  he  thought 
we  should  do  so  even  sooner.  This  being  agreed, 
neither  was  willing  to  discharge  the  disagreeable  duty ; 
so,  after  much  parley,  it  was  left,  in  a  merry  mood,  to 
lot,  which  decided  the  thing  against  me. 

Taking  what  appeared  proper  occasion,  I  drew  my 
chair  close  to  Mrs.  Smith's  one  evening  in  a  corner  of 
the  great  parlor. 

"Mrs.  Smith/'  I  began,  "there  is  a  little  matter  that 
I  think  I  ought  to  talk  about  with  you.  It  relates  to 
this — this  Baron." 

"Go  on,  Mr.  Cameron,"  she  replied ;  "I  shall  be  glad 
to  hear  anything  that  concerns  my  daughter's  future 
husband." 

"What !"  I  exclaimed.    "Has  it  gone  so  far  as  that  ?" 

"That  it  has,"  she  responded,  "though  I  don't  see 
why  it  should  give  you  apparent  dissatisfaction." 

"Now,  Mrs.  Smith,"  I  exclaimed  bluntly,  "I  ask  you 
ten  million  pardons — it  is  my  own  abominable  work. 
This  man's  name  is  not  Von  Bomberg  at  all." 

"That  I  understand,"  she  replied. 

"Then  he  has  been  perfectly  frank?"  I  asked,  much 
puzzled. 

"Perfectly,"  answered  she.  "It  is  Baron  von  Hal- 
verstadt  of  Bavaria." 

"Oh,  pshaw,  Mrs.  Smith,  it  is  too  bad !"  said  I.  "This 
is  all  a  fraud.  The  man  must  be  stopped.  He  is  no 
more  a  baron  than  I  am." 

"Excuse  me,  Mr.  Cameron,"  cried  the  lady,  "if  I 
prefer  to  manage  this  business  myself.  I  flatter  me 
I'm  as  quick  a  judge  of  titled  people  as  some  other  per- 


ACQUAINTANCE   AT    SEA        235 

sons.  I've  not  been  making  a  fool  of  myself  on  board 
this  ship,  and  I'll  thank  you  to  spread  no  stories  that 
will  make  a  fool  of  me,  either." 

With  this  she  left  me,  showing  that  she  was  in  no 
good  humour,  while,  for  my  own  part,  I  was  a  good 
deal  mystified.  What  surprised  me  more  was  that, 
when  I  related  this  thing  to  Sanderson,  the  fellow,  in 
stead  of  laughing,  showed  himself  annoyed. 

"Hang  it  all,"  said  he,  "I  don't  see  what  the  girl 
finds  in  that  stupid  beer-drinker  to  admire." 

"Why,  I  suppose  he's  bright  enough  to  a  plain  girl 
like  her,"  I  answered. 

"She's  not  so  bad-looking  when  you  know  her  bet 
ter,"  rejoined  Sanderson,  who,  I  could  see,  had  under 
gone  some  changes  of  opinion ;  "and,"  he  added,  "she's 
an  exceptionally  accomplished  young  lady." 

"But  I  thought  she  bored  you,  man  ?"  I  answered. 

"Well,  that  is  so,  originally,  I  might  say,  when,  in 
point  of  fact,  I  was  not  feeling  well.  The  truth  is,  Miss 
Smith  is  really  an  attractive  young  lady,  and  I  feel  we 
ought  to  get  her  out  of  the  scrape  we  have  been  putting 
her  in." 

As  usual,  it  is  the  unexpected  that  happens.  So  it 
was  a  great  surprise  to  discover,  as  I  very  speedily  did, 
that  this  young  woman  had  new  charms  for  Sanderson 
since  another  man  had  caught  her  fancy.  The  humour 
of  the  thing  was  increased  when  I  learned  from  a  new 
acquaintance,  whose  home  was  in  Massachusetts,  that 
these  Smiths  were  no  paupers. 

"Who  told  you  such  a  thing?"  he  asked.  "It  seems 
to  me  more  nonsensical  gossip  is  spread  aboard  ship 
than  anywhere  else,  except  in  lunatic  asylums.  That 


236  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Smith  family  has  had  money,  and  plenty  of  it,  as  long 
as  I  can  remember. " 

This  intelligence,  you  may  be  sure,  I  could  not  for 
bear  imparting  at  once  to  Sanderson,  who  received  it 
in  even  less  good  spirits  than  before.  In  fact,  he  be 
came  so  disturbed  as  to  draw  from  the  man  from  Mas 
sachusetts  further  talk  to  verify  the  first.  When  I 
laughed  at  the  tailor's  coming  luck,  he  grew  angry 
with  me,  declaring  I  had  handled  the  whole  thing  as 
badly  as  a  boy,  but  that  he  would  save  the  girl  even 
though  he  had  to  give  the  tailor  a  whipping. 

"Why  the  devil  should  you  whip  the  tailor?"  I  ex 
claimed.  "He's  not  to  blame,  is  he,  for  playing  the 
cards  we  put  in  his  hands  ?" 

"What  right  has  any  damned  tailor  to  masquerade 
in  this  fashion  ?"  he  continued,  ignoring  my  argument. 
"I  don't  think  gentlemen  like  you  and  me  should  tol 
erate  this  sort  of  thing." 

In  this  frame  of  mind,  he  continued  to  make  ad 
vances  to  the  young  lady,  who,  however,  plainly  pre 
ferred  the  pretended  foreigner,  the  result  of  it  being 
that  Sanderson  at  length  lost  his  temper  before  her  and 
fell  to  exposing  the  tailor. 

"I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it,"  retorted  Miss  Smith, 
warmly,  "and  I  should  consider  your  talk  impertinent 
if  I  had  not  honoured  you  with  some  encouragement, 
perhaps,  the  first  day  or  two  aboard,  under  the  mistake 
of  believing  you  to  be  a  gentleman." 

Just  at  this  moment,  as  luck  would  have  it,  they  were 
joined  by  the  mother  and  her  Baron,  both  of  whom, 
perceiving  something  wrong,  inquired  the  cause. 

"This  gentleman  from  Colorado  or  Alaska  has  been 
annoying  me,"  cried  Miss  Smith. 


ACQUAINTANCE   AT    SEA        237 

"Mr.  Sanderson/'  exclaimed  the  mother,  "your  jeal 
ousy  towards  my  daughter  has  given  us  already  annoy 
ance  enough." 

"Jealousy?"  retorted  Sanderson,  in  deep  vexation; 
"nonsense !  I  am  sorry  to  see  my  friendly  motives  to 
your  daughter  slandered  in  that  way." 

"Baron  von  Halverstadt,"  said  the  daughter,  ironi 
cally,  "you  might  carry  about  with  you  a  certificate  of 
your  birth  to  satisfy  this  person  that  you  are  not  an 
impostor." 

"Vat  is  this?  Vat  does  this  young  man  say  about 
me?"  inquired  the  German. 

"What  I  say  about  you  is  that  you  are  a  tailor,  and 
that  when  you  first  came  aboard  this  ship  you  answered 
the  inquiry  of  an  acquaintance  O'f  mine  by  saying  that 
you  were  in  that  business  in  San  Francisco.  That's 
what  I  said,"  replied  Sanderson,  determinedly. 
,  "Dat  is  exactly  vat  I  said,"  rejoined  the  German. 

"You  hear,"  sneered  Sanderson. 

"And  there  vas  not  a  vord  of  truth  in  it.  If  you 
Americans  would  ask  fewer  questions,  where  you  have 
no  business,  other  people  would  not  so  often  have  to 
tell  lies,"  continued  the  other. 

"What  kind  of  cool  bluff  is  this?"  exclaimed  Sander 
son,  with  contempt. 

"A  little  slow  now,  if  you  please,"  replied  the  tailor. 
"I  shall  keep  my  tember  mit  you  and  then  I  do  some 
thing  we  shall  all  regret.  Now,  Mr.  Sanderson,  I  haf 
been  in  the  West  about  mines  and  I  happen  to  know  a 
little  more  about  you  than  you  think.  It  is  you,  is  it 
not  ?  who  has  been  pretending  to  more  than  belongs  to 
you,  I  fancy.  I  think  I  know  the  firm  you  are  con 
nected  with  in  Denver  and  that  you  are  just  one  of  their 


238  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

little  clerks,  that  is  all.  And  now,  sir,  if  you  speak  to 
either  of  these  ladies  or  me  again,  I  shall  give  you  a 
good  beading  the  first  place  ashore  it  is  possible." 

By  this  time  Sanderson  was  in  considerable  heat,  but 
shipboard  is  a  miserable  scene  for  a  fight  when  one  con 
siders  how  summary  is  the  behaviour  of  the  Captain. 
Nor  could  I  fail  to  notice  that  the  German's  words 
about  Sanderson's  condition  of  life,  those  little  refer 
ences  to  Denver  and  a  clerkship,  had  caused  him  to  wince 
a  trifle;  all  of  which  observations  making  me  put  two 
and  two  together,  as  the  saying  is,  I  began  to  reflect 
that  perhaps  his  purse  was  not  in  so  agreeable  a  state 
as  some  one  had  given  out.  Then  I  recalled  for  the 
moment  the  fact  that  in  a  game  of  poker  two  nights 
before  he  had  borrowed  from  me  a  hundred  dollars, 
which  he  said  he  would  hand  me  at  London. 

However,  I  was  true  to  him,  just  the  same. 

'This  tailor's  impudence  in  carrying  out  this  trick 
is  the  most  astonishing  thing  I  ever  stumbled  on  in  all 
my  travels,"  I  exclaimed,  as  one  who  had  made  many 
circumnavigations.  "I'm  going  to  get  at  the  truth  of 
this  thing,  once  for  all." 

With  this,  setting  out  on  a  regular  quest,  I  went 
from  one  officer  of  the  ship  to  another  until  I  reached 
the  Captain,  whom  I  had  several  times  seen  in  conver 
sation  with  the  tailor. 

"Oh,"  replied  the  Captain,  "I've  been  tormented  with 
questions  about  him  the  last  two  or  three  days.  Some 
people  have  their  reasons  for  keeping  their  affairs  to 
themselves,  but  I'll  say  this,  my  boy,  I  don't  think  I'd 
care  to  wear  a  coat  of  that  fellow's  making,  if  you  take 
him  for  a  tailor." 

From  this,  which  was  all  I  could  get  from  the  Cap- 


ACQUAINTANCE   AT    SEA        239 

tain,  I  saw  we  had  missed  our  reckoning  a  few  degrees 
about  this  German.  I  began  to  reflect  upon  what  I  had 
seen  of  him  and  cannot  tell  you  now  what  a  fine-looking 
man  he  began  to  appear. 

During  all  these  affairs  I  had  occasionally  talked 
with  Mrs.  Egerton,  who  was  much  amused.  She  had 
not,  though,  shown  any  desire  to  become  acquainted 
with  any  of  the  persons  concerned,  and  I  felt  she  was 
of  a  social  class  somewhat  above  them  all.  She  gave 
me  a  little  advice,  saying  that  she  didn't  like  Sander 
son's  face,  and  appealing  to  that  instinct  which  is  sup 
posed  to  exist  in  woman,  a  power  undoubtedly  pos 
sessed  by  them  in  some  degree,  and  originating  in  the 
timidity  that  causes  them  from  their  earliest  years  to 
scrutinise  the  features  of  the  more  powerful  sex. 

The  truth  soon  came  out.  The  tailor  was  no  tailor, 
but  a  German  of  sufficient  rank  to  justify  American 
affections.  The  Smiths  in  consequence  became  the 
cynosure  of  all  eyes,  the  mother  building  castles  not  in 
Spain,  but  upon  the  Rhine.  On  the  other  hand,  San 
derson  had  recourse  to  frequent  drinking. 

Mrs.  Egerton  remained  aboard  when,  with  Sander 
son,  I  went  ashore  at  Southampton.  We  were  soon  in 
London,  where  he  speedily  disappeared  at  the  station, 
and  I  was  laughing  at  myself  the  next  day  when  I  hap 
pened  to  stumble  on  him  at  the  Carlton. 

"Upon  my  word,  I  had  given  you  up,"  he  cried, 
pouring  out  a  really  plausible  excuse  for  our  becoming 
separated  the  day  before.  "Hang  it,  you  know,  I 
wanted  to  hand  you  that  hundred  dollars.  Come,  let 
us  have  lunch,  and  then  we'll  go  down  to  the  bank  and 
I'll  get  a  supply  of  cash.  Damn  it,  I'm  glad  to  see 


240  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Then  we  larded  ourselves  with  a  most  expensive 
dinner,  ordered  by  him  with  real  taste,  while  we  drank 
heartily  and  laughed  over  the  mortifications  of  the  voy 
age.  Towards  the  close  of  the  meal,  while  draining  a 
glass  of  exquisite  Chateau  Yquem,  he  was  spoken  to 
by  a  page,  who  gave  him  a  card. 

"Fetch  him  here,  boy,"  he  said;  and  then — "but,  no, 
I'll  see  him  a  moment  alone.  Just  excuse  me  a  minute, 
Cameron." 

I  waited,  and  I  waited  long.  Then  I  paid  to  the  un 
easy  waiter  the  reckoning  for  both  The  clever  scoun 
drel  had  tipped  the  boy  to  call  him  away  in  this  fashion, 
so  I  added  about  twenty  dollars  to  the  hundred  that  had 
gone  before. 


CHAPTER  XLIX 
MY   STAY   IN    LONDON 

JVA  Y  plans  were  to  remain  in  London  only  a  few  days, 

*•  because  it  was  the  chief  thing  in  my  mind  to  see 
Betty  at  once.  Indeed,  nothing  but  intense  curiosity 
to  see  the  capital  of  Christendom,  rather  than  to  pass 
by  it,  could  have  induced  me  to  delay. 

The  very  next  morning  whom  should  I  fall  in  with 
on  the  Strand  but  Senator  Baxom. 

"For  God's  sake,  boy!"  cried  he,  "where  the  devil 
did  you  fall  from?" 

I  explained  how  I  came  to  be  there,  receiving  from 
him  in  return  the  news  that  he  and  his  wife  had  been 
on  that  side  of  the  Atlantic  about  a  month. 

"I  am  delighted  to  know  Mrs.  Baxom  is  here," 
said  I. 

"Here !"  he  exclaimed.  "Did  you  ever  know  her  to 
be  away  from  me  ?  We're  as  sure  to  be  together  as  two 
fat  pigeons.  Damn  these  American  women  who  are 
always  running  to  Europe  alone !  And,  now  that  you're 
just  soused  in  money,  Cameron,  I  suppose  you're  play 
ing  the  devil  with  the  girls  all  round  the  world." 

I  looked  as  naughty  as  possible,  but  swore  to  my 
good  behaviour. 

"I  wouldn't  believe  you  on  oath,  you  young  rascal, 
about  things  of  that  sort.  Now  tell  me  about  your 
plans." 

241 


242  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

We  sauntered  into  the  Cecil,  where  the  Senator, 
while  lamenting  the  heaviness  of  English  drinks,  lis 
tened  to  my  intentions  on  the  Riviera.  He  declared 
he  had  suspected  there  was  something  in  the  wind. 

"Now,  don't  make  a  mistake,  my  boy,"  he  said; 
"land  your  little  trout  while  you've  got  her  on  the  line. 
There's  nothing  like  a  good  woman.  I  may  have  my 
faults,  but  I  believe  in  pairing  early  and  settling  down 
to  business." 

While  we  were  strolling  about  the  great  hotel  and 
its  veranda,  we  came,  to  my  astonishment,  upon  San 
derson  seated  at  a  table  with  a  brilliantly  dressed 
woman  whom  I  recognised  as  Maud  Start.  The  fel 
low,  after  a  second's  embarrassment,  sprang  up  to  greet 
me  with  profuse  explanations.  This  attempt  to  dupe 
me  again  put  me  beside  myself  with  the  thought  that 
anybody  could  suppose  me  to  be  so  great  an  ass.  I 
thereupon  interrupted  him  with  such  a  hearty  epithet 
as  put  him,  in  turn,  in  a  rage,  for,  notwithstanding  his 
contemptible  character,  he  had  that  fine  opinion  of  him 
self  which  we  so  often  find  in  the  same  carcass  with 
vice.  In  consequence  he  squared  himself  as  if  he  would 
strike  me;  indeed,  would,  perhaps,  have  done  so,  if  the 
Senator  had  not  interfered. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  such  cursed  nonsense?"  ex 
claimed  the  statesman. 

"Well,  I'll  let  it  pass  now,"  replied  Sanderson,  "but 
there'll  be  an  explanation  before  long,  young  man." 

To  this  I  answered  lightly,  while  the  Senator  added : 

"Now,  see  here,  my  warm-blooded  youth,  you're  in 
the  wrong  country  for  rows.  They  have  a  way  over 
here  of  locking  people  up.  No  arguments  with  bad 
men  from  the  West  at  all.  They  lock  you  up.  And, 


MY    STAY   IN    LONDON  243 

take  my  advice,  don't  draw  a  pistol  or  use  it  in  this 
island,  son.  They'll  put  you  in  a  stone  cage  for  life  or 
break  your  neck  with  a  rope  in  sixty  days'  time.  No 
weeping  old  maids,  no  flowers,  you  know.  They'll 
hang  you." 

With  this  he  led  me  off,  fuming  a  bit  himself  about  it 
all. 

'That's  a  gay  bird  he  had  with  him,"  he  continued. 
"Do  you  know  the  pair?" 

I  explained  to  him  my  experience  with  both,  includ 
ing  her  probable  relations  with  my  uncle. 

"I  wonder  she  didn't  make  more  out  of  the  old  fel 
low,"  the  Senator  observed. 

That  night  I  spent  with  the  jolly  Senator  and  his 
wife,  who  introduced  me  to  some  English  and  Ameri 
can  friends,  besides  arranging  a  dinner  party  for  me 
to  take  place  the  next  day.  This  proved  most  enjoy 
able,  as  their  guests  were  people  of  consequence.  You 
can  easily  tell  what  estimate  your  host  puts  upon  you 
by  the  persons  he  invites  to  meet  you. 

After  two  or  three  days  in  such  good  company  I  set 
out  for  France,  amid  the  best  wishes  of  the  Baxoms, 
who  insisted  I  should  endeavour  to  take  the  same 
steamer  home. 

I  may  add  that  I  had  already  seen  enough  of  my 
countrymen's  waste  abroad  to  wonder  how  long  our 
riches  can  stand  the  strain.  As  you  walk  through  the 
magnificent  commercial  buildings  in  the  United  States, 
you  may  amuse  yourself  by  saying :  "The  rent  of  this 
room  for  an  entire  month  gives  Ned  his  dinner  to-night 
in  Paris.  This  next  room  will  buy  Annie  a  box  at  the 
Opera.  The  floor  below  will  furnish  to  Mary's  duke 
his  harlots  and  his  hounds." 


CHAPTER  L 

I   GO   TO   PARIS 

TN  extremely  elegant  society  it  is  natural  for  men,  and 
*  it  is  their  first  inclination,  to  dislike  each  other,  for 
it  is  a  competition  of  affectations.  When  I  arrived  in 
Paris,  the  superior  affectations  of  those  I  met  through 
two  or  three  letters  of  introduction  fairly  disgusted  me 
with  our  species.  Nor  does  the  languor  of  European 
nobility  sit  well  on  the  Americans  who  adopt  it.  How 
ever,  I  was  not  in  any  danger  of  the  thing  myself,  as 
my  stay  was  to  be  a  short  one.  All  I  aimed  at  was  to 
see  something  of  that  famous  capital  before  going  to 
the  South.  I  felt  sufficiently  grand  at  the  old  Conti 
nental,  where,  having  already  gotten  myself  a  body- 
servant,  I  endeavoured  to  look  as  stupid  and  indifferent 
as  a  German  baron.  This  demeanour  came  to  me  by 
no  means  easily,  since  novelty  would  continually  seduce 
me  into  animation. 

One  of  the  first  persons  I  met  through  a  letter  was  a 
young,  wealthy  and  dissipated  Pennsylvanian,  who  had 
already  lived  so  long  abroad  as  to  feel  some  annoyance 
from  his  being  American.  He  returned  to  our  country 
no  oftener  than  he  could  avoid,  which  was  every  second 
year  in  order  to  execute  papers  concerning  his  inheri 
tance.  This  he  was  squandering  on  the  joys  of  Paris, 
the  chief  of  the  many  European  sinks  of  American 

244 


I   GO   TO   PARIS  245 

plenty.  Still,  the  creature  was  by  no  means  insipid, 
for  he  had  some  spirit  in  his  excesses,  or,  as  we  would 
say,  got  his  money's  worth  out  of  his  debauches.  The 
equipages,  the  dinners,  and  the  mistresses  of  Harry 
Dalton  were  the  talk  of  the  town. 

With  many  pretty  oaths,  which  I  lost  no  time  in 
practicing,  he  declared  I  was  the  making  of  an  Euro 
pean  gentleman.  My  being  only  an  American  gentle 
man  was,  he  assured  me,  something  I  was  really  not 
to  blame  for  and  would  doubtless  do  my  best  to  outlive. 
The  first  thing  he  did  was  to  introduce  me  at  one  of 
the  clubs,  that  I  might  feel  at  home  when  he  was  out 
of  town. 

The  next  day,  pursuant  to  an  appointment,  he  took 
me  with  him  to  a  country  club,  where,  with  a  moderate 
knowledge  of  French,  I  contrived  to  do  pretty  well. 
There  were  present  a  number  of  Frenchwomen,  of 
course,  but  as  they  were  all  of  the  respectable  sort,  as 
well  as  married,  I  was  not  without  some  diffidence  in 
assuming  that  meaning  style  of  glance  and  manner 
which  continental  matrons  are  accustomed  to  accept. 
In  a  little  while  Dalton,  to  encourage  me,  pointed  out 
a  Countess  Mauvais,  who,  he  declared,  was  so  out  of 
humour  with  her  husband's  liaisons  as  to  be  ripe  for  an 
affair  herself.  She  was  about  thirty,  of  good  figure, 
and  above  the  need  of  cosmetics,  besides  which  she  had 
a  Frenchwoman's  manner  of  entangling  whom  she 
pleased.  Nor  was  she  by  any  means  a  fool,  since  she 
had  been  able,  it  was  well  known,  to  save  her  own  es 
tate  almost  entirely  from  her  husband's  wiles. 

The  women  of  France  are  in  many  ways  so  much 
stronger  than  the  men  that  one  cannot  help  wondering 
how  the  males  have  managed  to  retain  the  government 


246  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

of  that  country.  I  had  not  long  talked  with  the  Count 
ess  in  both  French  and  English,  the  latter  of  which  she 
spoke  volubly,  before  I  saw  her  shrewdness.  Never 
theless,  the  skill  of  her  flattery  was  such  that,  seeing  no 
better  game  in  sight,  I  replied  in  kind,  with  a  success 
speedily  rewarded  by  her  cleverest  efforts.  The  result 
of  it  all  was  that  I  engaged  to  visit  her  the  next  after 
noon,  when  she  was  to  receive  a  small  company. 

Coming  at  the  appointed  time,  I  found  several  per 
sons  already  there  of  such  a  sort  that  it  was  plain  my 
hostess  aspired  to  something  of  a  salon.  Books,  art, 
and  music  were  not  badly  discussed,  after  which  the 
talk  took  a  turn  towards  sociology.  This  led  to  the 
favourite  topic  of  national  manners  and  the  relative 
consequence  of  nations.  The  most  intelligent  talker. 
a  Frenchman,  said  that,  though  he  hated  to  admit  it, 
the  Germans  were  probably  the  foremost  people  in  the 
world. 

Nothing  surprised  me  more  in  all  their  talk  than  that 
to  none  of  them  did  it  occur  that  my  own  country  had 
any  claims  whatever  to  the  first  place  among  nations. 
England,  France,  and  Germany  were  all  discussed,  but 
when  I  boldly  suggested  the  United  States  they  seemed 
much  surprised.  Indeed,  it  was  clear  they  could  never 
consider  our  pretensions  at  all.  For  my  part,  never 
having  been  permitted  to  doubt  from  infancy  that  my 
own  was  the  greatest  country,  and  in  every  respect  the 
greatest,  upon  earth,  I  was  infinitely  shocked,  for 
among  no  people  is  the  vanity  or  conceit  of  race  and 
government  so  overwhelming  as  among  ourselves. 

Surely  there  is  a  fair  way  of  comparing  the  eminence 
of  nations.  For  what  are  governments  formed  ?  First, 
to  secure  one  man  from  the  violence  of  another,  that 


I    GO   TO    PARIS  247 

is,  to  enforce  the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  crime. 
In  this  a  man  must  be  half  mad  to  contend  we  have 
any  claims  to  precedence,  since  it  is  well  known  we 
have  more  violent  crimes  in  proportion  to  our  popu 
lation  than  any  highly  civilised  people  under  the  sun. 
Second,  it  is  a  primary  object  of  society  to  protect  the 
property  rights  of  citizens.  No  American  can  pre 
tend  that  civil  justice  is  better  administered  here  than 
in  Europe.  Third,  it  is  an  object  of  government  to 
conduct  affairs  without  corruption.  In  our  own  coun 
try  the  notoriety  of  bribery  and  fraud  in  our  city  gov 
ernments  and  in  our  State  Legislatures,  as  everybody 
knows,  is  not  tolerated  elsewhere  save  in  China.  Fourth, 
efficacy  or  expedition  is  required  in  the  machinery 
of  government.  In  this  the  principal  European  ad 
ministrations  entirely  surpass  us,  whether  it  be  in  build 
ing  a  battleship,  in  moving  an  army,  or  in  keeping  the 
streets  of  cities  clean,  their  pavements  in  repair,  or 
their  buildings  constructed  to  prevent  the  spread  of 
fire.  Fifth,  passing  from  government  to  society,  we 
are  inferior  to  the  principal  European  countries  in 
scholarship  and  not  superior  to  them  in  the  diffusion 
of  common  education.  Sixth,  in  art  and  music  we  are 
decidedly  inferior  to  them.  Seventh,  in  domestic  mor 
als  we  are  not  purer.  Eighth,  it  is  only  in  the  accumu 
lation  of  fortunes  than  we  have  any  right  to  boast ;  but 
when  we  consider  the  mines,  the  forests  and  the  fertile 
plains  bestowed  upon  us,  we  may  reflect,  too,  upon 
what  might  have  been  done  with  these  by  Germany, 
which,  on  so  old  a  soil,  has  reared  her  mighty  indus 
tries  and  scattered  her  fabrics  over  all  the  earth. 

"In  our  country/'  I  remarked,  "we  cannot  help  think 
ing  that  the  country  in  which  money  is  accumulated 


248  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

most  rapidly  is  the  greatest  of  all,  but,  on  reflection,  I 
suppose  we  ought  to  have  something  else  to  boast  of 
after  a  century  or  more.  However,  we  are  certainly 
a  very  free  people." 

"The  Germans,"  he  replied,  "are  steadily  achieving 
freedom  by  the  safe  degrees  in  which  the  English 
achieved  it." 

He  was  too  polite  to  say  more,  and  it  occurred  to 
me  as  doubtful  whether  we  are  freer  in  America  than 
they  are  in  either  France  or  England.  Meanwhile,  the 
conversation  turned  from  compliment  on  German  suc 
cess  to  contempt  for  German  manners,  all  being  of  one 
voice  that  these  people  are  the  most  disagreeable  in 
Europe. 

"Whenever  I  hear  of  an  American  girl's  marrying 
a  German  I  pity  her,"  exclaimed  the  Countess. 

"Well  you  may,"  added  another,  "for,  while  our 
Frenchmen  often  neglect  their  wives,  they  give  them 
at  least  superficial  politeness,  which  is  a  good  deal. 
The  Germans — oh,  they  are  coarse  tyrants  at  home." 

"I  understand,"  observed  the  Countess,  "that  there 
is  one  of  them  after  little  Miss  Sinclair's  fortune,  that 
pretty  little  chick." 

"What  Miss  Sinclair  is  that?"  I  asked,  with  some 
concern. 

"A  Miss — what  do  you  call  it? — Betty  Sinclair;  she 
was  here  last  week." 

I  could  not  refrain  from  mentioning  my  knowing 
her  very  well,  besides  showing  some  interest  in  her, 
upon  which  the  Countess  assured  me  I  need  have  no 
fear  of  the  German,  as  a  young  American  named 
Catesby  was  paying  the  girl  decided  and  apparently 
successful  attentions. 


I   GO   TO   PARIS  249 

When  I  quitted  the  house  it  was  with  an  appoint 
ment  to  visit  my  hostess'  chateau  in  a  small  party  the 
next  day,  but  with  a  secret  intention  of  leaving  Paris 
at  once  for  whatever  part  of  the  country  Betty  was 
now  in,  as  to  which  they  could  only  answer  that  the 
family  were  on  a  tour  through  the  chateau  country. 
Among  those  who  left  the  house  with  me  was  a  Penn- 
sylvanian,  a  few  years  older  than  myself,  who,  in  spite 
of  poor  health,  had  had  considerable  success  as  a  com 
poser. 

"I  have  not  the  income,"  he  remarked  frankly,  "to 
spend  much  of  my  time  with  this  class  of  people,  and 
I  hardly  imagine  I  should  enjoy  them  much  if  I  did. 
However,  I'll  say  this  much  for  them,  that  they  are 
no  worse  than  a  loud  set  we  have  in  every  American 
city  nowadays,  while  they  have  at  least  a  respect  for 
men  of  intellect." 

"Yes,"  I  replied,  "our  parvenus  at  home  care  for 
none  except  others  that  have  money  to  spend." 

"It  is  probably  because  they  feel  insecure  in  their 
social  positions,  but  maybe  it  is  because,  after  having 
given  up  their  whole  souls  to  getting  rich,  they  can't 
see  what  else  there  is  in  the  world  worth  having.  Any 
how,  there  is  a  difference.  Now,  in  Austria,  the  nobil 
ity  will  entertain  penniless  wits,  authors,  and  musicians 
by  the  score,  when  a  mere  money-maker  would  have 
no  chance  at  all.  By  the  way,  you  appeared  to  know 
Miss  Sinclair." 

Affecting  as  much  indifference  as  possible,  I  an 
swered  that  I  should  be  glad  to  know  where  I  could  do 
her  the  courtesy  of  a  short  call. 

"She  may  come  back  to  town,"  responded  he.  "They 
all  spend  a  month  or  more  here  after  returning  from 


250  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

the  seashore  or  the  mountains.  A  little  while  later  they 
will  fly  off  to  the  South.  Now  I  think  of  it,  though," 
he  added,  "you  can  learn  more  from  Dalton.  He  knows 
her.  He's  on  friendly  terms  with  that  fellow  Catesby, 
who  follows  her  everywhere — that  is,  when  he's  sober 
enough  to  know  where  he's  going." 

We  dined  at  a  luxurious  restaurant,  where  he  pointed 
out  the  celebrities  of  fashion,  a  beau  who  had  lost  a 
fortune  at  Monte  Carlo,  an  American  girl  who  was  on 
the  eve  of  divorce  from  a  spendthrift  Italian  count,  a 
pretty  little  Frenchman  whose  creditors  gave  him  no 
peace,  and  several  bejewelled  dames  who  were  glad 
their  husbands  kept  themselves  busy  with  mistresses. 
I  was  in  hopes  some  one  would  turn  up  who  could  be 
asked  concerning  Betty,  but  this  good  luck  was  not 
afforded  me,  so  I  had  to  give  up  all  hopes  of  finding 
her  that  night,  as  Dalton  was  not  to  be  seen. 


CHAPTER  LI 

MEETING   AT   THE    CHATEAU 

\17HEN  morning  came  I  hurried  to  Dalton's  apart- 
^*  ments,  with  the  good  fortune  of  finding  him 
abed.  To  my  surprise,  he  advised  me  he  was  going  to 
the  Countess'  country  place  on  the  eleven  o'clock  train, 
an  hour  earlier  than  the  rest  of  the  party,  of  which  I  did 
not  know  until  then  he  was  even  to  be  a  member. 

"The  Countess  and  I  are  good  friends,  my  dear  fel 
low,"  said  he,  "and,  in  fact,  I  might  as  well  take  you 
into  my  confidence.  I'll  be  damned  if  I  like  to  play 
tricks  on  my  friends,  whatever  I  do.  The  fact  is,  I 
introduced  you  to  her  to  help  myself.  You  see,  the 
woman  has  taken  a  fancy  to  me,  and  that  cursed  fool 
of  a  husband,  though  he's  in  a  notorious  affair  himself 
right  under  her  eyes,  is  as  jealous  of  her  as  the  devil. 
Now,  for  God's  sake,  do  us  a  good  turn  here  and  let 
her  act  as  if  it  was  you  she  had  taken  a  fancy  to — this 
for  a  little  while,  you  know,  so  as  to  draw  him  off  me 
for  a  breathing  spell." 

At  this  I  laughed,  consenting  only  for  the  short  stay 
I  was  to  make  in  Paris. 

"Thanks,  old  fellow,"  he  replied  feelingly;  "I  knew 
you  would  do  me  a  gentleman's  turn  in  this  way.  Be 
sides,  it  will  do  you  good  to  be  talked  about.  A  fellow 
amounts  to  nothing  here  unless  some  married  woman 
is  known  to  be  after  him." 

251 


252  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

I  lost  no  time  in  asking  about  Betty. 

"Oh,  that  little  girl !  You  know  her?  Yes,  she's  in 
town.  I'll  get  you  her  address  as  soon  as  we  come  back 
to-morrow.  A  drunken  sneak  named  Catesby  is  after 
her.  He  owes  everybody  in  town,  but  his  family  con 
nections  are  first  class,  so,  of  course,  he  can  keep  the 
thing  up  until  he  makes  a  good  marriage." 

"What  do  you  say  to  my  seeing  a  little  of  Miss  Sin 
clair  myself?"  I  inquired. 

"A  happy  idea,  old  chap,"  he  replied;  "first  class,  if 
it  annoys  that  cursed  Catesby.  I  understand  he's  been 
talking  to  the  Count  about  me,  and  I'll  cane  him  if  he 
keeps  it  up." 

Though  I  would  rather  have  remained  in  town  in 
quest  of  Betty,  I  saw  I  might  as  well,  for  that  day,  go 
to  the  Countess',  which  I  did  at  twelve  o'clock.  By 
two,  after  a  ride  through  the  pretty  country  south  of 
Paris,  I  arrived  with  several  others,  to  whom  I  was 
introduced  at  the  country  station,  and  with  whom  I 
was  driven  to  the  chateau. 

The  place  was  no  Chenonceaux,  but  it  was  ample  for 
comfortable  entertainment.  The  party  were  about  ten, 
to  which  was  added  the  Count  and,  to  make  things 
entirely  pleasant,  his  well-born  "friend."  The  fellow, 
like  a  greedy  dog  that  wishes  to  keep  two  bones  to 
himself,  immediately  began  to  watch  his  wife  while 
diverting  himself  with  his  mistress.  That  it  was  Dai- 
ton  he  had  in  mind  was  plain,  but  his  good  spouse,  quite 
equal  to  the  occasion,  speedily  applied  to  me  such  atten 
tions  as  at  least  divided  his  vigilance. 

"Keep  this  up,  for  the  Lord's  sake,"  whispered  Dai- 
ton;  "we'll  help  you  play  the  hand.  What  I  want  is 
to  make  him  feel  easy  about  returning  to  town.  I  want 


MEETING   AT   THE   CHATEAU  253 

to  stay  here  a  day  or  two  with  one  or  two  others  after 
you  return  to-morrow." 

Accordingly,  during-  all  the  evening  Dalton  affected 
the  air  of  one  chagrined  and  thoroughly  out  of  humour, 
the  Countess  showed  me  repeated  favours,  and  the 
Count  apparently  settled  into  the  comfortable  belief 
that  his  wife,  jealous  of  him,  was  simply  flitting  from 
one  passing  fancy  to  another  in  order  to  provoke  him. 
She  was  also  discreetly  cold  towards  his  friend,  so  the 
party  became  a  really  happy  one. 

It  was  about  ten  o'clock  when,  passing  across  the 
main  hall  or  corridor  of  the  house,  I  stood  in  astonish 
ment  before  Betty  Sinclair !  We  looked  at  each  other 
bewildered,  she  not  having  known  until  this  minute 
that  I  was  even  in  Europe.  With  infinite  surprise,  and 
then  with  emotion,  she  sank  against  the  wall.  In 
deed,  she  would  perhaps  have  fallen  to  the  floor  had  I 
not  rushed  to  support  her,  while  I  noticed  for  the  first 
time  by  whom  she  was  attended — her  mother  and 
Catesby.  They  were  all  in  travelling  garb. 

The  poor  girl  passed  her  hand  repeatedly  across  her 
eyes  as  I  supported  her  with  my  arm,  for  the  others,  as 
much  astonished  as  either  of  us  at  an  apparition  like 
me,  had  not  the  quickness  to  aid  her. 

"Betty,"  I  whispered,  "don't  you  know  me?  Speak, 
Betty.  Please  don't  faint,  dear." 

By  this  time  others  had  come  to  the  spot,  among 
them  the  Countess,  whose  lively  accents  restored  com 
posure. 

"Ah,  how  charming  that  you  should  have  come !  Our 
little  company  has  not  been  complete  until  now." 

"My  dear  Countess,"  replied  Mrs.  Sinclair,  "it  is 
entirely  due  to  an  accident.  Our  motor-car  is  injured. 


254  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

We  were  sure  you  could  shelter  us  a  little  while  until 
we  can  reach  the  village." 

Explanations,  exclamations,  protests,  devotion,  en 
chantment,  and  the  like  followed  between  the  ladies, 
saving  only  Betty,  who  scarcely  murmured  a  word  be 
yond  the  merest  syllables  of  politeness.  Again  and 
again  would  her  eyes  rest  upon  me,  then  turn  aside  as 
if  to  conceal  her  happiness.  I  could  see,  even  in  my 
excitement,  that  she  was  slightly  changed,  but  I  did  not 
fail  to  observe  that  the  pretty  girl  had  become  a  beauti 
ful  woman,  while  in  the  woman  there  remained  the 
round,  bright  eyes  of  the  simple  and  credulous  girl. 

The  Countess,  undismayed  by  these  reinforcements, 
which,  in  point  of  fact,  were  rather  to  her  taste,  as  she 
loved  diversion,  now  made  the  new  guests  at  home, 
insisting  they  should  not  attempt  to  reach  the  village 
that  night  and  suffer  the  anguish  of  an  inn.  Mrs.  Sin 
clair  capitulated  somewhat  slowly  to  hospitality,  for 
I  could  see  that,  notwithstanding  the  general  gaiety, 
she  had  her  eyes  upon  her  daughter  and  myself.  Thus 
far  none  of  us  had  had  a  chance  to  talk  apart.  I  was 
in  a  ferment  to  say  a  word  with  Betty,  who  was  almost 
constantly  attended  by  either  Catesby  or  the  mother 
when  no  one  else  was  at  her  side,  while  the  rapid  ap 
proach  of  bedtime  added  to  my  uneasiness. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  curiosity  of  both  Catesby  and 
the  mother  as  to  how  I  had  turned  up  in  such  a  place 
was  naturally  not  concealed. 

"Delighted  to  see  you  again,  I'm  sure,"  he  observed, 
coming  up  to  where  I  obstinately  remained  near  Betty. 
"I  think  you  were  last  in  journalism,  was  it  not?  You 
are  here  representing  the  press,  perhaps?" 

"I  am  in  no  business  at  all,  at  present,"  I  replied, 


MEETING   AT    THE    CHATEAU   255 

fairly  dying  to  let  him  know  what  a  fat  purse  I  had, 
but  not  caring  to  seem  in  a  hurry  to  do  so. 

"Ah,  really,"  answered  he.  "Will  be  delighted  to 
render  you  any  service  you  need  in  some  new  line  or 
other." 

"Thank  you  very  much,"  I  replied,  cursing  him  un 
der  my  breath. 

"Are  you  returning  soon  to  the  States?"  asked  the 
mother,  in  an  exceedingly  puzzled  mind. 

"I  am  in  no  hurry,  Mrs.  Sinclair,"  I  answered  lazily; 
and  then,  seeing  my  chance  as  a  servant  was  passing : 
"Boy,  you  may  tell  my  man,  Achille,  that  he  need  not 
wait  until  my  bedtime,  as  I  shall  be  very  late  to-night." 

The  effect  of  this  remark  being  just  what  I  wanted 
upon  the  mother  and  Catesby,  was  by  no  means  dis 
pleasing  to  Betty,  naturally  elated  at  any  circumstance 
that  compelled  her  mother  to  respect  me.  At  this  junc 
ture  we  were  joined  by  Dalton,  who,  having  estab 
lished  an  agreeable  relation  with  the  Count  and  enjoyed 
several  glasses  of  wine,  was  inclined  to  lend  me  a  hand. 

"Upon  my  word,  Mrs.  Sinclair,"  said  he,  "you're 
talking  to  one  of  our  new  lions  here.  A  man  with  Mr. 
Cameron's  fortune  and  good  looks  is  going  to  reinforce 
our  little  set  this  winter." 

"Charmed  to  hear  it,"  replied  the  lady,  "but  I'm  not 
surprised  a  particle,  as  Mr.  Cameron  was  one  of  our 
best  friends  in  New  York." 

Relieved  both  by  the  news  and  her  own  lie,  the  good 
dame  gave  me  a  trifling  rest,  Catesby  being  led  off  by 
Dalton.  It  was  my  first  chance  to  be  alone  with  the 
dear  girl,  whose  face,  now  that  I  saw  it  again,  inspired 
my  heart  with  unutterable  tenderness. 

"Betty,"  I  cried  in  a  rapid  whisper,  "I  am  rich  now. 


256  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

My  uncle's  fortune  has  come  to  me.  Have  you  never 
heard  of  it?" 

"Oh,  what  good  news,"  she  answered.  "No,  I  have 
heard  nothing  of  it.  Think  of  it !  You  are  rich." 

"Rich  enough  to  take  you  back  with  me,  Betty,"  I 
replied.  "Do  you  hear  me,  Betty? — to  take  you  back." 

"Oh,  don't — not  here — please  don't,  Mr.  Cameron," 
she  answered,  shrinking  towards  a  window. 

"Don't  Mr.  me,  Betty,"  I  exclaimed.  "You  know 
you  love  me  and  you  know  I  love  you  and " 

"I  beg  pardon,  Miss  Sinclair,"  said  the  infernal 
Catesby,  breaking  in  upon  us,  "your  mother  would  like 
to  see  you  a  moment." 

Though  I  gave  the  fellow  a  black  look,  I  could  only 
surrender  Betty,  who,  in  confusion  with  her  tell-tale 
blushes,  felt  obliged  to  go  with  him  at  once,  unable  even 
to  raise  her  eyes  to  mine. 

The  rest  of  the  night  I  passed  in  no  contented  frame 
of  mind,  for  I  felt  that  Betty  had  still  some  opinions 
unfavourable  to  my  part  on  the  veranda  that  night  with 
Trixy,  as  to  all  of  which  I  had  never  had  a  chance  to 
offer  explanation.  What  made  me  more  uncomfortable 
was  that  this  explanation  must  make  me  a  liar  to  Trixy 
at  least  in  the  judgment  of  a  pure-minded  girl. 

The  entire  company  were  soon  in  their  rooms  for 
the  night,  and  when  I  saw  Betty  in  the  morning  she 
was  ready,  with  her  mother  and  Catesby,  to  proceed  on 
their  way ;  nor  was  I  able  again  to  speak  with  her  alone. 
I  learned,  to  my  vexation,  that  they  were  on  their  way 
to  Dijon.  They  would  not  return  to  Paris,  but,  as  the 
cool  weather  was  now  advancing,  make  their  way  grad 
ually  to  their  winter  home  near  Mentone.  From  Betty 
I  received  a  warm  pressure  of  the  hand  at  parting, 


MEETING   AT   THE   CHATEAU  257 

together  with  a  look  which,  though  it  did  not  fill  me 
with  confidence,  assured  me  I  still  possessed  her  affec 
tions.  On  the  other  hand,  the  mother  extended  me  no 
invitation.  She  was  delighted  to  have  seen  me  again ! 
No  doubt  we  should  have  the  good  luck  to  fall  in  with 
each  other  soon!  At  all  events  we  should  meet  some 
time  in  New  York ! 

When  they  left  the  chateau  I  returned  to  the  com 
pany  in  a  mood  too  full  of  disappointment  for  conceal 
ment.  The  brisk  Countess,  at  last  perceiving  it,  ex 
claimed  : 

"So !  It  is  more  serious  than  we  had  imagined.  But 
who  can  blame  you  ?" 

I  tried  to  resume  my  affectation  of  gallantry  toward 
her  of  the  day  before,  but  she  broke  into  a  merry  laugh. 

"No,  Mr.  Cameron,  no.  My  Lord !  It  is  not  neces 
sary.  We  understand  each  other.  Thank  you,  dear 
sir.  I  am  enchanted  with  your  good-nature.  Hence 
forth  I  am  your  friend.  You  may  count  upon  me  in 
this  business,  dear  Mr.  Cameron." 

By  this  time  Dalton,  having  joined  us,  drew  me  to 
another  room  on  some  excuse  or  other. 

"Cameron,"  said  he,  "that  damned  Catesby  will  tell 
some  lie  or  other  to  the  mother  or  the  girl  against  you. 
When  I  happened  to  have  a  word  with  the  sneak  last 
night,  he  referred  to  your  presence  here  immediately, 
and  soon  made  an  opportunity  to  remark  that  this  for 
tune  of  yours  was  all  a  myth ;  that  it  was  part  of  your 
game  to  get  little  Sinclair." 

"The  dirty  scoundrel !"  I  cried,  with  a  hearty  curse 
besides. 

"Oh,  don't  lose  your  temper  about  it,"  answered 
Dalton.  "I  want  to  see  you  get  the  best  of  him,  but, 


258  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

after  all,  I  suppose  you're  not  fool  enough  to  be  in  love, 
and  you've  got  all  the  money  you  need  already,  so 
there's  no  reason  to  be  crazy  about  marriage.  I'd  as 
soon  be  dead  myself  as  tied  by  law  to  any  woman  on 
earth.  However,  you  must  get  the  best  of  that  whelp. 
He  owes  me  five  thousand  francs,  the  puppy,  and  I 
imagine  he's  going  to  owe  it  the  rest  of  his  life." 


CHAPTER  LII 
ANOTHER   MEETING 

NJOYING  the  pretty  scenes  on  my  way  back  to 
Paris,  I  resolved  to  make  my  journey  thence  to 
Mentone  in  an  automobile,  that  species  of  machine  be 
ing  about  this  time  first  in  vogue  for  tours.  Before  I 
quitted  the  chateau,  as  Catesby  had  not  accompanied 
the  Sinclairs  farther,  I  asked  Dalton  if  he  had  hap 
pened  to  learn  whether  he  was  to  join  them  in  the 
Riviera. 

"I  asked  him  a  little  while  ago,"  he  replied,  "and  he 
said  he  was,  but,  you  know,  the  fellow  is  such  a  liar  I 
don't  rely  on  what  he  says  at  all." 

Having  myself  some  talk  with  Catesby,  though  with 
secret  desire  to  thrash  him,  I  casually  remarked  that 
I  learned  from  Dalton  his  having  an  intention  to  go  to 
the  South. 

"Really!"  he  replied  languidly.  "I  should  imagine 
you  would  know  by  this  time  that  that  person  is  such 
a  liar  no  one  in  his  senses  would  pay  any  attention  to 
him." 

The  happy  understanding  which  these  gentlemen  had 
of  each  other  was  not  lost  upon  me  by  any  means,  but 
was  naturally  unsatisfactory  to  one  seeking  informa 
tion.  I  was  charitable  enough,  though  in  no  good  hu 
mour,  to  impute  this  aspersion  to  that  condition  of 

259 


260  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

mind  in  which  people  of  fashion  find  themselves  during 
the  morning  hours,  since  well-bred  people  invariably 
dislike  each  other  at  breakfast  and  shun  each  other  until 
noon. 

By  the  latter  hour  the  Count,  Catesby  and  I  returned 
to  the  metropolis,  where  we  separated  at  once.  Dalton 
remained  with  several  others  at  the  chateau,  but  it  was 
understood  that  the  party  should  return  a  day  or  two 
later.  For  my  part,  I  proceeded  immediately  to  pre 
pare  at  great  expense  for  a  fine  trip  to  Mentone.  New 
suits  of  clothes  were  ordered  with  all  dispatch,  at  least 
a  dozen  of  them,  a  diamond  ring  and  pin  for  Betty, 
which  cost  me  ten  thousand  francs,  and  the  finest  auto 
mobile  to  be  had.  In  fact,  the  last  sou  of  my  credit  was 
put  to  the  strain  at  my  banker's.  Then  I  arranged  a 
handsome  dinner  by  way  of  farewell  to  Dalton  and  my 
recently  added  friends. 

That  day  I  happened,  in  passing  a  steamship  office 
in  the  Rue  Scribe,  to  see  within  the  familiar  figures  of 
Sanderson  and  Maud  Start,  for  the  highway  around 
the  world  is  well  beaten  now  and  travellers  continually 
fall  in  with  each  other.  In  a  moment  Sanderson  came 
out  hurriedly,  leaving  her  awaiting  the  attention  of  the 
clerk  in  a  small  crowd,  so  I  deemed  it  worth  my  while 
to  enter. 

"Yes,  we  want  the  next  boat  to  New  York,"  she  said 
to  the  clerk.  "Montgomery  is  the  name — John  Mont 
gomery  and  wife." 

Some  talk  ensuing  between  them,  a  selection  of  a 
room  was  made  at  last,  and  as  she  turned  to  look  for 
Sanderson,  she  saw  me. 

"How  do  you  do,  Maud?"  said  I. 

After  a  look  of  some  annoyance,  she  replied : 


ANOTHER   MEETING  261 

"On  your  way  home,  I  suppose  ?" 
"No,  going  South/'  I  answered.    "And  you?'* 
"Just  trying  to  find  whether  some  friends  are  going 
home  on  this  next  steamer.     I'm  taking  the  train  for 
Brussels  myself." 

Knowing  that  she  was  lying,  I  wondered  whether 
she  had  exhausted  already  three  thousand  dollars 
which,  in  Albany,  it  had  been  generally  understood  my 
uncle  had  given  her  for  the  sake  of  peace  not  long  be 
fore  he  died,  or  whether  she  and  Sanderson  were  re 
turning  on  mischief  to  me,  the  truth  being  I  never 
could  feel  quite  at  ease,  considering  how  natural  it  was 
that  my  uncle  should  have  left  a  will.  Her  looks 
showed,  too,  that  she  was  desirous  to  be  rid  of  me. 

"Fine  day,  Maud,"  I  said.  "Your  style  of  beauty 
will  play  havoc  over  here." 

"Oh,  you're  very  kind,"  she  retorted,  "to  be  so 
funny,  but  I'll  have  you  understand  I'm  not  to  be  made 
game  of,  though  I'm  not  so  beautiful  to  see  as  some 
play-actresses  that  needn't  be  mentioned  that  prides 
themselves  on  their  shape  and  is  bent  on  catching  rich 
young  men  that  fancy  they're  come  into  a  fortune,  such 
persons,  all  of  them,  being  beneath  my  notice." 


CHAPTER  LIII 
A   NAUGHTY   DINNER 

T*  HOUGH  he  was  by  no  means  so  elegant  as  my 
*  other  Parisian  acquaintances,  I  took  pleasure  in 
seeing  my  Pennsylvanian,  the  composer,  who  lived  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river  among  others  more  bohemian 
than  himself.  I  invited  him  to  my  dinner,  telling  him 
that  it  was,  for  the  present,  in  the  nature  of  farewell. 
Accepting  the  invitation,  he  spoke  to  me  frankly  of  my 
new  friends  at  the  chateau,  for  he  saw  that  I  had  con 
siderable  curiosity  where  my  means  of  impartial  infor 
mation  were  as  yet  so  small. 

"The  little  Count,"  he  said,  "is  ruinously  in  debt. 
In  fact,  it  is  generally  suspected  here  that  Dalton  lends 
him  a  great  deal  of  money.  You  understand,  of  course. 
The  wife  is  pretty  gay,  but  she  contrives  to  keep  her 
self  apparently  above  wholesale  criticism." 

With  that  he  ran  to  his  table  to  set  down  some  strain 
that  had  flashed  through  his  wits,  making  at  the  same 
time  such  nods  of  the  head  and  thrumming  of  his  fin 
gers  as  would  have  made  me  think  him  mad  if  I  had 
not  known  him  to  be  a  musician.  Meanwhile  we  were 
joined  by  a  German  student  who,  I  learned,  was  about 
to  dedicate  his  life  to  a  series  of  works  on  the  antennas 
of  the  Philippine  ant,  a  subject  on  which  he  deemed 
mankind  woefully  cjark.  As  he  had  all  the  disputatious- 

262 


A   NAUGHTY   DINNER  263 

ness  of  that  people,  I  soon  left  the  pair,  though  much 
interested  to  learn  the  relations  between  Dalton  and  the 
Mauvais. 

This  dinner  of  mine  I  had  consigned  to  a  distin 
guished  caterer,  who,  receiving  my  order  at  first  with 
the  lofty  indifference  of  an  artist  patronised  only  by 
nobility,  put  me  so  far  on  my  mettle  that  I  haughtily 
gave  him  carte  blanche.  Upon  that  the  fellow  set  to 
work  with  a  will.  Nothing  that  the  confines  of  the 
earth  could  afford  seemed  to  have  escaped  his  notice — 
fish,  flesh  or  fruit.  However,  I  cared  nothing  about 
that,  for  I  had  determined  to  leave  my  mark  on  the 
world  of  fashion. 

My  guests,  about  ten  in  number,  were  visibly  pleased 
at  so  much  splendour,  and,  as  they  were  persons  I  had 
met  in  the  gaudy  circle  of  Dalton,  they  were  far  from 
novices  in  extravagance.  One  old  English  beau,  who 
had  rotted  a  generation  in  Paris,  declared  he  had  seen 
nothing  since  the  joyous  days  of  Napoleon  and 
Eugenie. 

"Those  were  devilfsh  days,  Mr.  Cameron,"  he 
sighed. 

"Think  how  you  have  outlived  all  that/*  remarked 
the  Countess;  "think  of  the  temptations  you  have  es 
caped!" 

"Escaped!"  ejaculated  the  old  sinner.  "Why,  my 
God !  madam,  if  I  ever  let  a  temptation  escape  me  in  my 
life  I'd  die  of  shame." 

This  pleasantry  being  much  appreciated,  we  gave 
ourselves  up  to  our  liquors,  quoting  freely  from  the 
various  Anacreons  whom  we  could  recall  as  bards  of 
love  and  wine,  nor  did  the  conversation  lack  that  salt 
which  is  so  commonly  found  in  gay  repasts.  As  Sir 


264  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Robert  Walpole  long  ago  observed,  it  is  best  to  talk 
bawdy  at  the  table,  since  everybody  is  sure  to  under 
stand  that. 

This  flavour  in  the  talk  being  most  acceptable  to  our 
old  beau,  he  produced  a  sonnet,  which  he  said  he  had 
prepared  in  honour  of  his  host.  Of  course,  it  was  an 
intolerable  thing  both  in  metre  and  rhythm,  nor  could 
any  one  make  out  just  what  he  was  driving  at,  but  on 
this  account  it  was  vigorously  applauded,  the  sonnet 
being  a  form  of  verse  in  which  you  can  say  nothing  and 
nobody  know  it. 

Things,  in  short,  were  going  very  prettily,  when  I 
observed  an  increasing  friction  between  the  Countess 
and  a  beautiful  comedienne,  who  was  attracting  un 
usual  attention  from  Dalton.  The  latter  dame,  employ 
ing  the  vivacious  arts  of  the  stage,  was  perhaps  not  in 
sensible  to  the  advantages  of  adding  to  her  list  so 
extravagant  a  swain,  but  the  Countess,  to  hide  her  an 
noyance,  began  to  lavish  her  smiles  upon  me  in  so 
unusual  a  degree  that  the  Count,  in  turn,  became  ob 
viously  fretful  at  his  lady's  indiscretion.  This,  it  may 
be  added,  was,  from  what  I  had  heard  about  his  debts, 
no  less  than  justice  on  his  part,  considering  that  Dal 
ton,  having  paid  for  her  favours,  was  entitled  to  keep 
them  to  himself,  even  though  he  might  not  always  call, 
as  business  men  say,  for  their  delivery. 

American  fortunes  were  discussed.  "I  agree  with 
our  transatlantic  friends,"  cried  the  actress,  with  an 
air  of  melancholy.  " Riches  are  the  true  object  of  ex 
istence.  All  the  wealth  one  can  get  in  this  world  is 
none  too  much  for  the  misery  of  having  to  live  in  it." 

"For  my  part,"  added  the  old  Englishman,  'Tye 


A   NAUGHTY   DINNER  265 

tried  all  my  life  to  get  out  of  this  scene  of  dissipation 
and  false  gaiety.  I  prefer  what  the  Germans  call  the 
simple  life — the  farm,  the  beautiful  estate,  my  hounds 
and  stables." 

This  sentiment  was  vigorously  applauded,  for  there 
is  nothing  so  exquisite  as  that  simple  life  which  they 
can  enjoy  who  are  rich  enough  to  afford  it. 

"Upon  my  soul,"  cried  Dalton  to  the  actress,  "I 
should  hate  to  see  such  beauty  as  yours  buried  in  a 
wilderness." 

"Better  there  than  to  endure  the  disappointments 
that  await  women  of  my  profession,  the  longing  for 
home  and  offspring,"  replied  she,  who  at  heart  would 
have  considered  nothing  more  terrible  than  either 
household  or  a  child. 

"I  trust  the  queen  of  the  drama  has  no  affairs  of  the 
heart  to  make  her  long  for  retirement,"  remarked  the 
Countess. 

"I  should  be  lucky  indeed  if  I  wholly  escaped  them," 
replied  the  other. 

"Oh,  ho !  Madam  is  in  love,"  cackled  the  English 
man.  "Her  feelings  have  been  hurt  by  some  one  or 
other." 

"We  never  love  deeply  those  who  never  give  us 
pain,"  she  responded,  with  a  glance  at  Dalton,  who 
replied  in  kind. 

This  sort  of  talk,  stimulated  with  wine,  among  peo 
ple  by  no  means  too  good  to  begin  with,  grew  to  a  de 
gree  excessively  lively,  and,  the  Countess  encouraging 
me,  I  showed  her  attentions  that  approached  endear 
ment.  The  Count,  I  failed  to  perceive,  was  becoming 
furious,  for  he  happened  to  have  no  partner  with  whom 


266  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

to  conceal  his  disgust.  Accordingly,  the  meal  was  no 
sooner  ended  and  my  guests  scattered  through  the 
apartments  than  he  led  me  aside  and  began  to  vent  his 
feelings  in  tones  of  suppressed  rage. 


CHAPTER  LIV 
A   BAD    ENDING 

TVTOBODY  could  have  been  more  astounded  than  I  at 
*  ^  the  angry  manner  of  the  Count,  who,  I  had  con 
ceived,  could  not  for  a  moment  see  anything  serious 
between  me  and  his  wife,  and  to  this  effect  I  hastened 
to  express  myself.  But  what  is  the  use  of  one  man  in 
liquor  making  explanations  to  another  in  the  same  con 
dition?  The  more  I  tried  to  set  the  matter  right,  the 
more  I  made  it  wrong.  When  a  man  has  been  prema 
turely  jealous,  you  make  a  fool  of  him  if  you  show 
him  he  never  had  any  ground,  so  you  cannot  make  light 
of  the  thing  to  begin  with,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  you  treat  it  very  seriously,  he  may  well  wonder  why 
you  make  so  much  of  it. 

Things  reaching  a  heated  pass,  the  lady  herself  hap 
pened  to  join  us  from  another  room  on  the  arm  of 
Dalton,  for  the  whole  party  was  about  to  bid  me  good 
night. 

"For  God's  sake!"  cried  the  dame,  in  a  volley  of 
French,  "what  is  the  matter  between  you  ?" 

"You  will  retire,  madam,"  replied  her  lord.  "Mon 
sieur  Cameron  and  myself  are  having  some  explana 
tions." 

"No,  no,"  she  exclaimed.  "Here  is  trouble,  Mr. 
Dalton,  We  shall  have  scandal." 

267 


268  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Then  I  am  sure  you  will  be  satisfied,  madam,"  re 
torted  the  Count,  in  a  still  greater  heat  of  maudlin  an 
ger.  "You  have  done  your  best  to  cause  it.  Leave  us, 
I  command  you." 

The  Countess,  though,  being  herself  muddled  with 
wine,  was  by  no  means  obedient,  and  retorting  on  him 
with  considerable  temper,  received  from  him  a  sarcasm 
based  upon  the  flippancy  of  her  morals  which  could  so 
easily  throw  off  an  apparent  attachment  for  Dalton. 
Enraged  at  the  base  suggestion  that  a  charming  wife 
like  herself  could  be  false  to  her  lover,  his  spouse,  like 
any  fishmonger's  wife,  and  in  violation  of  the  rules  of 
good  society,  which  require  an  injured  wife  to  hate  her 
husband  in  silence,  delivered  him  a  hearty  slap  in  the 
face.  This,  as  may  be  imagined,  put  the  whole  room, 
now  filled  with  the  other  guests,  in  commotion,  for, 
every  one  being  somewhat  intoxicated,  there  was  a 
babel  of  voices,  expostulations  and  arguments,  during 
which  the  Count  and  Dalton  would  have  come  to  blows 
but  for  the  interference  of  the  head  waiter  in  his  appre 
hensions  for  the  good  name  of  the  house.  Now,  this 
fellow's  laying  hands  on  a  gentleman  put  the  old  Eng 
lishman  beside  himself  with  passion,  his  mind  being 
too  befuddled  to  see  the  wisdom  of  the  servant;  so, 
after  the  simple  manner  of  English  debate,  he  felled 
the  poor  devil  with  a  chair.  Thereupon  two  of  the 
servants  came  to  the  rescue  and  the  affair  became  a 
disgraceful  brawl. 

In  the  midst  of  this  the  proprietor,  followed  by  one 
or  two  others,  rushed  in  with  unheard-of  French  oaths, 
drove  us  into  separate  rooms  I  know  not  how,  and 
restored  order  instead  of  driving  us  out  of  doors,  where 
the  decency  of  his  cafe  would  have  been  lost.  I  then 


A   BAD    ENDING  269 

lost  no  time  in  going  from  guest  to  guest  lamenting, 
for  I  was  now  sober  enough,  the  unhappy  turn  my  en 
tertainment  had  taken.  None  of  them,  though,  had 
any  patience  with  me.  What  the  devil  had  I  meant  by 
inviting  them  to  such  an  affair?  Had  I  drugged  peo 
ple  who  had  trusted  me?  The  little  Pennsylvanian, 
who  had  been  at  the  outset  the  most  flattered  to  be  of 
the  company,  was  the  most  incensed. 

"This  thing  will  get  into  the  papers  and  my  wife 
will  hear  the  devil's  own  exaggeration  of  it,  Mr.  Cam 
eron/'  said  he.  "I  really  don't  think  you  have  known 
me  long  enough  to  invite  me  to  your  dinners." 

I  felt  like  strangling  the  ungrateful  creature.  Dai- 
ton  also  was  angry  with  me.  He  swore  this  was  what 
he  deserved  for  taking  me  up.  The  only  one  who  re 
sumed  his  reason  was  the  Englishman. 

"By  God!"  said  he,  "this  lark  reminds  me  of  old 
times.  Come  and  see  me  to-morrow,  my  boy,  at 
eleven." 

The  next  day  I  had  to  face  a  scandalous  bill  from  the 
boniface.  The  rascal  knew  he  had  the  advantage  of  me, 
so  he  set  to  plundering  me  villainously.  In  my  despair 
I  went  to  my  old  beau,  whom  I  found  taking,  as  he 
termed  it,  just  a  bit  of  a  breakfast — some  fish,  kidneys, 
muffins,  potatoes,  marmalade  and  tea.  Laughing  heart 
ily  over  the  frolic  of  last  night,  he  bade  me  worry  no 
more  about  the  bill,  as  he  would  take  the  matter  in 
charge  himself  and  settle  it  at  half.  Accordingly,  I  gave 
him  a  check  for  what  he  declared  was  enough.  I  felt  he 
was  the  only  man  in  the  party. 

But  my  ill  luck  was  not  ended.  The  affair,  written 
in  that  persiflage  and  irony  in  which  the  French  excel 
the  rest  of  mankind,  was  in  all  the  evening  prints,  the 


270  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

most  disreputable  orgy,  if  one-half  they  said  could  be 
believed,  that  had  yet  disgraced  the  town.  Dalton, 
whose  name  I  now  found  was  a  common  one  in  public 
dissipations,  was  declared  to  be  quite  outdone  by  his 
new  pupil,  who  had  added  fisticuffs  in  dining  out. 

This  bad  business  I  saw  was  all  the  worse  from  the 
fact  that  Catesby  had  only  to  send  to  Betty  the  news 
papers  of  that  day  to  do  me  more  injury  than  his  own 
tongue  could  achieve  in  a  month,  a  mischief  the  easier 
to  accomplish  as  the  last  impressions  she  had  of  me  in 
America,  being  those  of  that  night  on  the  veranda, 
could  not  be  wholly  favourable.  To  get  out  of  town, 
to  hurry  to  Mentone  without  delay,  was  now  impera 
tive.  Accordingly,  I  resolved  to  start  the  very  next 
morning  in  my  motor-car  with  all  the  luggage  it  could 
carry  and  guided  by  an  experienced  man. 

Reflecting  on  Walpole's  pleasantry  about  table-talk, 
I  regretted  my  not  having  employed  so  harmless  an 
amusement  instead  of  making  pretended  love  to  an 
other  man's  wife,  a  pastime  that,  in  modern  society,  is 
liable  to  be  misunderstood  by  reason  of  the  nervous 
natures  of  the  dames  of  to-day,  whose  very  husbands 
cannot  always  feel  certain  of  the  number  of  their  lovers. 
On  the  Countess  I  reflected  with  considerable  disap 
pointment,  she  had  appeared  so  sweet  and  clean;  nor 
could  I  help  remembering  what  I  had  heard  concern 
ing  one  of  the  finest  ladies  imaginable,  that  she  had 
only  one  little  fault — she  would  swear  every  time  she 
got  drunk. 


CHAPTER  LV 
COL.  EVANSON  AND  LILLIAN 

D  EFORE  quitting  Paris  I  had  the  good  luck  to  meet 
*-*  Colonel  Evanson,  who  informed  me  that  he  had 
accompanied  Lillian  on  a  sudden  voyage;  that  she 
would  return  in  a  fortnight,  sufficiently  rested  to  appear 
in  her  new  play,  and  that  he  himself  would  spend  a 
month  longer.  She  had  just  arrived  from  London. 

"All  I  wish,  suh,"  added  he,  "is  to  protect  Miss  Lily 
from  these  foreign  whelps  with  their  lecherous  faces. 
Why,  suh,  they  make  one's  flesh  creep  so,  a  gentleman 
can  feel  one  coming  before  he  sees  him." 

He  railed  at  the  French  cookery.  "Of  course,  suh, 
it's  not  bad,  but  just  give  me  a  dish  of  fried  chicken  and 
a  sweet  potato  in  old  Southern  style  without  any  frills 
around  it." 

We  sauntered  into  a  drinking-place,  where  he  was 
ill  content  that  he  could  get  neither  good  whiskey  nor 
a  mint-julep,  some  Englishmen,  whom  I  had  met  else 
where,  joining  me  with  some  amusement  at  the  man 
ners  of  the  Colonel.  The  talk  ran  on  our  Civil  War,  in 
which  the  Colonel  admitted,  with  a  smile,  his  heavy 
losses  in  a  ravaged  estate. 

"Curse  me,"  exclaimed  one  of  the  young  English 
men  most  foolishly,  "if  I  don't  wish  the  war  had  gone 

the  other  way " 

271 


272  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  suh,"  replied  the  Colonel, 
"there's  too  common  a  misapprehension  here  about  that 
sort  of  sentiment  pleasing  men  in  my  position.  Let  me 
say  one  thing,  suh,  every  white  man  in  the  South  is  a 
citizen  of  the  American  Union." 

The  Colonel  and  I  now  made  our  way  to  his  hotel, 
where  we  found  Lillian  in  the  midst  of  dressmakers  and 
milliners,  some  exhibiting  hats,  others  spreading  upon 
couches  or  chairs  the  delicate  fabrics  of  Venice  and 
Lyons,  all  in  a  chatter  that  even  our  entrance  did  not 
immediately  interrupt. 

"Oh,  how  charming!"  she  exclaimed  when  she  saw 
me. 

"Yes,  Lily,  I  certainly  did  find  him,  like  you  told  me 
to  do,"  observed  the  father. 

She  gave  him  a  pretty  look  of  disapproval,  to  which, 
when  she  saw  that  I  had  noticed  it,  she  added  a  slight 
blush. 

"You're  so  conceited  already,  Charles,  I  don't  wish 
you  to  imagine  everybody  in  the  world  is  running  after 
you,  you  rascal." 

Some  pleasant  banter  following,  she  informed  me 
she  had  suddenly  resolved  on  selecting  in  Paris  her 
costumes  for  the  new  play,  but  that,  as  she  had  little 
time  to  spare,  she  would  have  to  return  in  a  few  days 
to  London,  where  some  manager  or  other  wished  to 
discuss  a  "season"  in  England.  During  this  talk  the 
Colonel  went  out  to  find  a  good  cigar  and  Lillian  ban 
ished  the  tradespeople,  whose  wares,  however,  she  bade 
them  leave  behind  to  be  examined  at  her  leisure. 

"Now,  old  Mr.  Vanity,"  she  said  as  she  seated  her 
self  near  me  in  a  very  happy  humour,  "I  shall  have 
only  three  little  days  here,  but  if  you'll  promise  to  be 


COL.  EVANSON  AND  LILLIAN    273 

very,  very  good  I'll  give  them  all — that  is  to  say,  most 
of  them  to  you." 

"It's  too  bad,"  I  began  in  a  hang-dog  manner.  "I'm 
just  on  the  point  of  going " 

"Nowhere,"  she  cried  in  the  confident  authority  of 
successful  beauty,  while  tapping  the  floor  with  the  tip 
of  her  slipper,  "only  here,  sir." 

In  a  moment,  though,  her  quick  eye  discerning  in 
me  some  new  state  of  mind,  she  added : 

"Where  in  the  world  are  you  going,  man  ?" — this  a 
trifle  petulantly,  for  it  was  probably  the  first  time  in 
her  life  she  had  ever  known  a  man  not  to  linger  at  her 
skirts,  and  as  I  began  some  unsatisfactory  reply,  she 
exclaimed : 

"Oh — I  see — ah,  yes — a  young  lady !" 

Instinctively  she  glanced  at  her  image  in  a  mirror  on 
the  opposite  wall,  almost  shaking  her  plumes,  like  the 
angel  in  the  poem,  until  heavenly  fragrance  filled  the 
space  around. 

"I  declare !"  she  said  in  sweet  displeasure  half  con 
cealed.  "Men  are  so  odd !" 

"But  it  really  amounts  to  nothing,  only  a  friendly 
acquaintance  formed  in  New  York,"  I  remarked. 

"Well,  who  cares  what  it  amounts  to,  Master 
Charles?  Who  cares?" — saying  which  she  daintily 
poked  each  of  my  cheeks  with  her  forefinger  in  pre 
tended  unconcern.  However,  I  saw  she  was  annoyed. 
Was  it  possible  Lillian  had  conceived  a  sentimental 
feeling  for  me  ?  I  again  hastened  to  explain. 

"Really,  you  know,  there's  nothing  serious  in  my 
relations " 

"But  who  cares  if  there  is?  I  say,"  she  answered 


274  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

briskly.  "Why  do  you  make  such  a  fuss  about  it?  You 
think  the  whole  town  is  crazy  about  you?" 

"Why,  you  see,  Lillian,  you  seemed  to  think " 

"No,  I  don't.  Come,  let's  talk  about  something  else. 
No,  you  mustn't  touch  me.  Why  do  you  persist  in  mis 
understanding  me  so  ?  I  declare,  you're  more  conceited 
than  ever.  Let's  talk  about  something  else,  not  but  I 
suppose  she's  pretty  as  a  doll  and  has  flattered  your 
vanity  by  making  love  to  you.  Here,  look  at  this  bro 
caded  silk!  Now,  stop  trying  to  touch  me,  Charles. 
I  suppose  you  imagine  everybody's  in  love  with  you." 

"Oh,  hang  the  silk !"  I  cried  gaily.  "The  finest  thing 
in  the  room  is  you,  and  all  I  have  to  say  is  that  I  re 
main  in  Paris  subject  to  your  orders  and " 

"Now,  Charles " 

"There  never  was  a  moment  when  Lillian  Evanson 
couldn't  command  me  first,  last  and  all  the  time,"  I 
continued  in  jolly  gallantry;  "so  here  go  gloves,  hat, 
cane,  top-coat " 

I  was  flinging  them  on  a  couch  with  a  laugh,  when, 
in  an  impulse  of  generosity,  she  caught  my  two  hands 
in  hers. 

"You  big-hearted  fellow.  No,  Charles,  no.  I've 
been  selfish.  Til  not " 

"But  here  I  stay,  fair  goddess,  until " 

"No,  no.  I've  been  selfish,  I  say.  I  mustn't  monopo 
lise  you.  You  see,  it's  this  way.  Let  us  sit  down  a 
minute.  To  be  honest,  just  after  you  sailed  it  dawned 
on  me  for  the  first  time  how  sincere  a  friend  you'd 
been.  The  other  men — well,  I'm  afraid  their  intentions 
are  not — though,  of  course,  I'm  to  blame  myself,  too. 
I'm  been  a  trifle  reckless,  I  suppose.  It's  so  hard  to 
know  just  where  to  stop." 


COL.  EVANSON  AND  LILLIAN    275 

We  were  silent  a  moment  until  I  said : 

"Lillian,  I  swear  you're  growing  a  trifle  serious 
lately." 

"Yes,"  she  replied.  "I'm  afraid— no,  not  afraid,  to 
be  sure,  but  I  reckon — I  mean  I  think — I  am.  This 
young  lady  of  yours,  she's  not — not — an  actress,  I 
suppose  ?" 

"No,"  said  I.    "Her  name  is  Betty  Sinclair." 

"A  pretty  name,"  answered  Lillian.  Then  she  sighed 
faintly  as  she  added :  "I'm  sure  you're  not  to  be  blamed 
for  liking  those  pretty,  innocent  chicks  compared  with 
such  blase " 

"Blase!  You  mean  yourself?"  I  exclaimed  with  a 
laugh,  in  which  I  forced  her  to  join,  rallying  her  out 
of  her  dullness  until,  becoming  herself  again,  she  fitted 
one  hat  after  another  on  her  yellow  locks  or  posed  to 
drape  the  marvel  of  a  Flemish  loom.  All  the  while  she 
was  describing  the  situations  in  her  new  play,  quoting 
several  smart  retorts,  and  in  particular  practising  an 
ingenious  limp  that  a  certain  scene  permitted. 

Captivating  deity,  she  came  back  again  to  earth, 
though,  and  soon  betrayed  her  new  inclination  to  be 
grave,  a  turn  the  deeper  as  I  chanced  to  mention  the 
name  of  my  uncle. 

"Oh,  don't  let  us  talk  about  him  or  wills,"  she  ex 
claimed,  with  an  unhappy  look,  and  when  at  last  I  rose 
to  say  good-bye,  she  said : 

"No,  no  kissing  again.  I'm  afraid  you  think  Lillian 
a  pretty  careless  sort  of  girl.  Well,  one  can't  undo 
some  things  in  the  past,  but  one  can  stop,  can  stop." 

Never  could  I,  never  should  I  have  let  her  escape 
one  more  honest,  friendly  little  hug,  had  not  at  this 
moment  her  father  returned. 


276  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"I  declare,  Lily/'  he  remarked  as  he  entered,  "these 
flunkies  over  here  contrive  to  find  more  excuses  for  a 
tip  than " 

"Oh,  father,  dear,"  replied  Lillian,  "let  the  poor 
creatures  have  it !  We'll  never  miss  it." 

"Oh,  I  reckon  not,  child,"  replied  the  old  man.  "But, 
Lord  bless  your  heart,  honey,  just  look  at  all  this  finery 
to  be  paid  for.  What's  it  all  going  to  cost,  child  ?" 

"Cost!  Why,  father,  dear,  I  haven't  time  to  find 
what  a  thing  is  going  to  cost.  I  have  to  have  what  I 
want,  that's  all  I  know." 


CHAPTER  LVI 
MENTONE 

j  T  is  nearly  one  voice  among  travellers  that  France 
is  the  most  pleasing  country  in  the  world,  since  it 
combines  the  attractions  of  ancient  and  modern  his 
tory,  of  languorous  repose  and  intelligent  thrift,  of  art 
and  science,  of  agriculture  and  manufacture.  Here  the 
climates  of  North  and  South  are  happily  blended  and 
tempered.  The  face  of  nature  is  glad ;  the  people  fru 
gal  and  pleasant.  Every  historic  charm  abounds.  The 
land  that  produced  stupendous  Napoleon  beheld  the 
transcendent  enterprise  of  Hannibal,  and  we  may  turn 
from  the  galleries  of  Versailles  to  reflect  upon  those 
memories  of  church  and  state  that  sleep  in  Avignon. 

I  am  ashamed  to  say  I  went  through  many  delightful 
scenes  in  a  hurry.  What  I  wished  was  to  see  Betty  as 
soon  as  possible.  Indeed,  I  would  have  taken  no  chances 
in  a  motor-car  if  I  had  not  known  that  it  would  do  me 
little  good  to  reach  the  Riviera  more  speedily  by  train, 
since  Betty's  family  were  not  to  be  there  quite  so  soon. 

I  did  have  occasion  to  observe  that  pretty  France  is 
not  suffering  for  that  want  of  propagation  of  our  spe 
cies  that  has  given  so  many  concern.  These  things 
commonly  regulate  themselves  according  to  the  just 
needs  of  population,  and,  where  fewer  children  are  be 
gotten  than  might  appear  natural,  it  will  generally  be 

277 


278  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

discovered  that  either  the  offspring  or  the  parents 
would  have  fared  worse  if  more  had  been  born.  Nor 
have  I  ever  been  able  to  see  on  what  religious  or  moral 
grounds  the  living  should  be  reproached  if  they  do  not 
give  life  to  others  who,  never  having  had  existence, 
have  never  demanded  it,  especially  when  full  half  of 
those  who  receive  it  pronounce  it  an  empty  thing,  after 
the  most  favourable  trial.  The  defence  of  nations, 
whilst  nations  maintain  the  right  of  conquest,  may  re 
quire  the  multiplication  of  offspring,  in  which  event  it 
may  be  encouraged  on  the  score  of  patriotism,  but  for 
any  other  reason  it  would  appear  more  unjust  that  a 
woman  should  bear  many  than  that  she  should  not  bear 
at  all.  Who  can  deny  that  each  individual  child  is  an 
additional  care ;  that  it  increases  poverty  if  poverty  ex 
ist  before ;  that  it  often  creates  poverty  where  there  was 
none  to  begin  with ;  that  a  few  offspring  will  commonly 
receive  better  rearing  than  many;  and  that  both  pov 
erty  and  crime  are  usually  found  where  brats  are 
thickest? 

After  several  mishaps,  a  day  or  two  late,  at  least,  I 
reached  Mentone.  Without  delay  I  hurried  to  the 
home  of  Mrs.  Egerton,  whom  I  resolved  to  make  my 
adviser  in  a  campaign  in  which  I  could  have  no  other 
base  so  good.  She  lived,  I  found,  in  a  rather  large 
house,  commanding  a  pretty  view  of  the  sea.  Gardens 
and  arbours  pleased  the  eye  even  in  this  late  season. 

"You  are  very  welcome,  Mr.  Cameron,"  she  ex 
claimed  as  she  greeted  me,  "and  you  must  give  me  a 
part  of  every  day,  as  it  is  so  short  a  drive  from  your 
hotel.  I  live  simply,  you  see." 

"Not  so  simply,  to  my  mind,  Mrs.  Egerton,"  I  re 
plied,  "unless  you  mean  by  comparison  with  some  very 


MENTONE  279 

grand  way  of  living  you  have  maintained  somewhere 
else." 

She  had,  she  replied,  only  five  or  six  servants,  two  or 
three  horses,  and  some  inexpensive  furniture,  enough, 
in  short,  for  small  hospitality  or  casual  entertainment, 
so  she  complimented  herself  on  having  that  sort  of 
disposition  which  is  easily  contented.  There  lived  with 
her  a  dyspeptic  old  brother,  who  was  not  feeling  well 
just  then  because,  two  or  three  days  before,  he  had 
chewed  a  piece  of  meat  only  thirty  times  instead  of 
thirty-two.  However,  he  was  pleasant  enough,  for,  on 
my  mentioning  the  tideless  nature  of  the  Mediterranean 
arid  the  mystery  of  Longinus'  knowing  in  his  situation 
that  there  were  other  seas  not  tideless,  he  showed  him 
self  acquainted  with  the  old  authors  and  became  com 
plimentary. 

•'You  are  the  only  young  American  I  have  met  the 
past  ten  years  that  seems  to  care  for  anything  except 
cigarettes  and  tennis.  Damme,  in  my  day  youngsters 
used  to  think  of  literature.  The  only  literature  they 
seem  to  want  now  is  dirty  French  novels." 

The  old  fellow  had  been  paying  the  consequences  of 
a  somewhat  dissipated  youth  by  suffering  innumerable 
disorders  of  the  stomach,  to  relieve  which  he  had  trav 
elled  in  many  parts  of  the  earth,  had  cursed  various 
climates,  had  sweated  in  all  the  famous  baths.  One 
might  have  expected  him  to  grow  bitter  in  his  ill  luck, 
but  fortunately  his  mind  took  an  ironical  turn  towards 
his  stomach,  and  he  would  regale  himself,  when  bilious, 
with  one  sort  of  drug  after  another,  vowing  he  could 
keep  up  the  fight  as  long  as  his  insides  could,  until  the 
time  should  come  when  he  could  eat  whatever  he 
pleased.  Though  not  prone  to  dwell  on  his  dyspepsia, 


280  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

he  diverted  me  occasionally  with  accounts  of  the  hic 
coughs  he  had  had  in  Carlsbad  or  the  pain  in  his  liver 
at  Aix. 

As  he  became  a  warm  friend  of  mine,  with  the  usual 
positive  inclination  of  irritable  people  when  they  form 
a  regard,  I  soon  made  him,  as  well  as  his  sister,  fully 
acquainted  with  the  business  I  was  in,  together  with 
my  hopes  that  she  could  in  some  way  further  it.  I  ex 
plained  to  her  the  doubtful  standing  I  had  with  the 
mother  and  the  unfortunate  incident  that  had  served 
me  so  poor  a  turn  with  the  daughter. 

"I  think,"  said  Mrs.  Egerton,  "you  have  done  right 
to  take  counsel  in  this  matter,  for  it  seems  to  me  every 
thing  depends  on  your  having  no  talk  at  all  with  Miss 
Betty  until  you  can  have  a  long  one.  Now,  if  her 
mother  finds  you're  here  you  may  have  a  good  deal 
of  trouble  in  getting  a  long  one,  or  any  at  all." 

"That  is  exactly  my  own  conclusion,"  I  added.  "In 
fact,  I  am  afraid  even  to  write  for  fear  the  note  gets 
into  the  wrong  hands." 

"Oh,  don't  write,  whatever  you  do,"  cried  she,  "for 
even  if  it  should  get  only  into  Betty's  hands  it  might 
do  you  more  harm  than  good.  When  a  subject  once 
grows  cold  between  lovers,  the  only  way  to  set  it  right 
is  by  word  of  mouth." 

What  we  agreed  was  that  I  should  be  seen  as  little 
as  possible  in  public  places  until  Mrs.  Egerton  had 
done  what  she  could  towards  acquaintance  with  the 
Sinclairs,  whom  she  made  no  doubt  of  meeting  soon. 
Thus  it  speedily  fell  out,  for  in  a  few  days  she  reported 
her  having  come  upon  them  at  a  large  reception,  where 
she  herself  had  assisted  the  hostess  in  receiving  guests. 

"So  they  are  here  at  last,"  I  cried.    "And  was " 


MENTONE  281 

replied  Mrs.  Egerton,  with  a  laugh,  "Betty 
was  there,  too.  My  dear  Mr.  Cameron,  that  is  the  pret 
tiest,  wisest  face  in  the  world.  I  am  delighted  with 
your  choice.  The  game  is  more  interesting  than  ever." 

As  may  be  imagined,  nothing  could  be  more  to  a 
sprightly  woman's  mind  than  accomplishing  a  meeting 
between  two  lovers,  whom  no  good  reason  was  keeping 
apart.  But  the  thing  obviously  required  some  strategy. 
Betty  could  not  be  invited  to  the  house  until  the  mother 
and  Mrs.  Egerton  had  exchanged  visits,  nor  was  it 
certain  that  a  pretext  could  be  devised  by  which  Betty 
would  be  induced  to  come,  it  being  inconsistent  with 
her  dignity  that  she  should  be  invited  there  for  no  other 
reason  than  to  meet  me. 

It  was  finally  determined  I  should  pass  a  few  days 
at  Genoa.  During  that  period  some  progress  could  be 
made  without  fear  of  my  being  seen  by  Mrs.  Sinclair, 
who,  for  aught  we  knew,  might  keep  Betty  well  under 
her  wing  should  such  a,  hawk  as  myself  be  seen  at  hand. 
Accordingly  I  quitted  the  place,  remained  a  week  at 
Genoa,  and  was  at  length  rewarded  with  a  telegram 
from  my  fair  champion  requesting  my  immediate  re 
turn. 

Never  was  summons  more  punctually  obeyed.  Hur 
rying  back  to  Mentone,  I  found  at  my  inn  a  note  from 
Mrs.  Egerton  bidding  me  be  at  her  house  at  five  the 
next  day.  With  what  impatience  did  I  pass  that  night ! 
How  many  fine  speeches  did  I  frame  to  move  a  heart 
that  wanted  only  truth ! 

The  morrow  came  at  length.  A  stupid  luncheon  was 
dispatched,  suit  after  suit  was  tried  and  discarded, 
necktie  after  necktie  was  untied  and  flung  aside,  before 
my  dress  became  such  as  I  was  sure  reflected  the  height 


282  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

of  the  mode.     Then  being  driven  to  Mrs.  Egerton's, 
I  was  at  last  within  her  gate. 

I  was  greeted  by  her  brother,  who  informed  ire  how 
the  affair  had  been  arranged.  Mrs.  Egerton,  advancing 
on  the  acquaintance,  had  exchanged  visits  with  Mrs. 
Sinclair,  and  making  a  point  of  pleasing  Betty,  had 
soon  captured  that  gentle  person's  regard.  Betty  was 
now  with  his  sister,  but  the  latter,  when  he  should  re 
port  my  arrival,  would  leave  her  on  some  excuse  and 
let  me  see  her  first  alone.  Nor  did  Betty  yet  dream  of 
my  being  there.  The  most  unpleasant  news  was  that 
Catesby  was  constantly  attending  Betty  and  would 
come  to  take  her  home  at  seven. 


CHAPTER  LVII 
BETTY   AT    MENTONE 

T  I  NFORTUNATE  indeed  the  man  whose  memory 
^  has  not  consecrated  to  love  some  perfect  hour. 
Never,  surely,  was  lover  afforded  one  more  delightful 
in  both  scene  and  season  than  this  of  mine.  From  the 
veranda,  through  gardens  and  trees,  which,  in  so  sunny 
a  region,  the  cool  approach  of  winter  had  not  yet  de 
spoiled,  could  be  seen  the  tranquil  Mediterranean,  and 
from  the  pleasant  South  was  borne  the  languorous  air 
of  Italy.  Nature  was  in  repose.  Nothing  appeared  to 
disturb  either  sky  or  sea.  A  distant  sail. might  here  and 
there  be  descried,  and,  rising  from  the  waters  as  even 
ing  came  on,  the  autumn  moon. 

As  it  had  been  arranged,  Mrs.  Egerton,  called  by  her 
brother,  left  Betty  on  some  excuse  or  other,  greeted 
me  happily,  and  directed  me  with  much  pleasant  excite 
ment  to  a  corner  where  Betty  could  be  found  beneath 
a  pergola.  Not  losing  a  second,  I  hastened  to  that  part 
of  the  house  and  in  a  moment  was  in  her  presence.  The 
sweet  girl  had  not  dreamed  I  was  within  a  hundred 
leagues  of  her.  She  rose,  then  seemed  to  sink  back, 
then  stepped  forward  to  greet  me  with  a  smile  so  happy 
that  no  lover  in  the  world  could  have  asked  for  more. 
My  impulse  was  to  seize  her  in  my  arms,  to  settle  the 
whole  question  in  kisses  and  embraces.  Luck,  though, 

283 


284  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

was  against  me.  Such  a  space  was  between  where  she 
stood  and  the  spot  at  which  she  first  saw  me  that  a 
dozen  long  steps  must  be  taken  before  I  could  be  at  her 
side.  In  consequence  her  maidenly  dignity  had  time  to 
recover  itself. 

You  may  know  you  are  in  love  when  you  are  sensi 
tive  to  trivial  neglect.  That  Betty  had  more  cause  than 
I  to  be  a  little  cool  did  not  at  once  occur  to  me.  Had 
I  not  declared  to  her  a  few  days  ago  that  I  loved  her? 
Had  I  not  come  a  long  distance  to  see  her?  Could  she 
not  see  that  I  loved  her  ?  Accordingly,  I  grew  in  turn 
reserved,  and  we  took  our  seats  in  that  sort  of  mind 
when  nobody  knows  what  to  say. 

"I  suppose  you  are  glad  to  be  out  of  that  bad  town, 
Paris  ?"  I  remarked. 

"Why  do  they  call  Paris  bad?"  replied  she.  "I  was 
there  a  month  or  more  and  I  saw  nothing  bad  at  all." 

This,  the  natural  experience  of  innocence,  softened 
me  a  trifle,  but  I  remembered  my  fancied  wrongs  suffi 
ciently  to  maintain  my  reserve. 

"It  is  very  beautiful  here,"  said  I. 

"Yes,"  answered  she,  "but  I  am  tired  of  Europe.  I 
love  my  own  country  best — not  but  I'm  happy,  you  un 
derstand,  very  happy  anywhere." 

"That  is  the  way  with  me,"  I  added;  "happy  any 
where.  I  had  a  perfect  stay  in  Paris." 

"I  am  so  glad,"  said  Betty. 

"Met  some  delightful  people,"  I  continued. 

"So  I  hear,"  she  replied. 

"You  hear?" 

"No  matter,  Mr.  Cameron ;  I  really  paid  little  atten 
tion  to  it." 

I  saw  immediately  that  Catesby  had  probably  sent 


BETTY   AT    MENTONE  285 

her  some  accounts  of  my  little  dinner. 

"If  there  is  anything  I  ought  to  explain,"  said  I,  "I 
certainly  should  be  glad  to  do  so — ought,  in  fact,  to  be 
given  the  chance." 

"I  really  don't  see,  Mr.  Cameron,"  answered  Betty, 
"that  I  care  to  ask  you  for  any  explanation ;  besides,  I 
don't  know  that  there  is  anything  worth  explanation." 

Never  is  beauty  so  tantalising  as  when  it  is  slipping 
away  from  you.  I  felt  like  giving  up  to  both  anger 
and  entreaty,  for  she  looked  pretty  to  the  last  degree, 
and  I  knew  my  rival  had  been  turning  my  mistake  to 
account.  But  I,  who  was  so  sure  of  her  loving  me 
when  I  cared  little  for  her,  was  now  quick  to  doubt  it 
when  I  had  both  fallen  in  love  with  her  and  had  avowed 
my  affection. 

Deeply  piqued,  I  was  actually  on  the  point  of  leaving 
her,  when  there  occurred  one  of  those  incidents  which 
sometimes  change  the  whole  course  of  events.  From 
below  us,  in  a  moment  of  silence  after  this  remark  of 
hers,  there  rose  from  a  cottage  half  hidden  in  gardens 
and  trees  that  sweet  chorus  of  the  monks  in  Semi- 
ramide  with  which,  in  plaintive  or  melancholy  mood, 
some  musician  was  then  beguiling  the  hour  of  twilight. 
Wishing  an  excuse  for  silence,  we  both  listened  long 
enough  to  be  affected  by  so  soothing  a  strain.  It  was 
indeed  a  stroke  of  luck. 

"Betty,"  said  I,  "if  I  leave  you  now,  we  may  never 
meet  again,  and  all  I  have  to  say  is  that  nobody  will 
ever  love  you  any  more  than  I  do." 

Now,  what  could  result  from  so  honest  a  statement 
as  this,  uttered  both  calmly  and  sadly,  but  the  tender 
Betty  should  begin  to  melt.  So,  like  a  good  general, 
I  pushed  my  manoeuvre  farther.  I  got  up  to  go. 


286  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Now,  don't  do  that,"  exclaimed  she. 

"Do  you  wish  me  to  stay  ?"  I  asked. 

"Oh,  I  don't  know  what  I  want,"  replied  Betty.  "I 
don't  understand  you  at  all,"  and  with  that  buried  her 
face  in  her  handkerchief  while  she  struggled  with  pride 
and  tears. 

There  was  nothing,  of  course,  left  to  strategy.  Seiz 
ing  sweet  Betty  in  my  arms,  though  she  tried  to  pro 
test,  I  gave  her  fifty  kisses  and  caresses  in  less  time 
than  it  takes  to  tell  about  it. 

Happy  as  gods  for  the  moment,  we  disposed  of  the 
trouble  about  Trixy  and  the  naughty  repast  in  Paris 
without,  debate,  but  dull  care  was  swift  in  pursuit. 
What  would  her  mother,  what  her  father,  say  ?  They 
were  against  me,  of  that  she  was  certain.  Catesby,  yes, 
Catesby  or  a  title,  that  was  her  mother's  desire.  As  for 
the  father,  he  had  expressed  himself  opposed  to  my 
attentions  even  since  he  had  heard  of  my  inheritance, 
and  Betty  declared  amid  her  confessions  that  she  would 
not  go  to  the  altar  without  her  parents'  consent.  She 
might  never  marry  the  man  they  desired,  but  she  could 
not  think  of  marrying  the  man  they  opposed.  This 
she  qualified  only  in  the  degree  that,  after  a  long  trial 
of  their  humour,  she  might,  if  convinced  they  were  un 
reasonable,  exercise  an  independence,  but  only  after 
waiting  upon  them  most  patiently. 

"I  am  their  only  child,"  she  said,  "and,  indeed, 
Charles,  indeed,  they  have  never  denied  me  anything  in 
the  world.  I  must  not  break  their  hearts." 

"Leave  them  both  to  me,  Betty,"  I  replied,  confident 
ly.  "I'll  dispose  of  that  part  of  the  business." 

I  was  very  much  pleased  with  myself,  just  as  if  I 
could  brush  aside  legions  with  a  waive  of  my  hand. 


BETTY   AT    MENTONE  287 

Then  we  were  joined  by  the  others,  who,  though 
they  affected  not  to  notice  anything,  soon  admitted  they 
had  been  in  the  plot,  which,  for  Betty's  sake,  it  was 
argued  I  was  desperate  to  make  succeed.  It  was  also 
explained  that  I  had  been  so  bad  that  Betty  had  to  pun 
ish  me  severely.  The  brother  then  declared  that  it  was 
my  misbehaviour  that  had  won  the  day,  that  women 
at  heart  preferred  the  man  whom  they  found  it  neces 
sary  to  forgive,  and  that  no  man  had  ever  been  loved 
long  by  woman  for  virtue  alone. 


CHAPTER  LVIII 
VERY    BAD    NEWS 

T  RRECOVERABLE  moments !  Would  that  mem- 
1  ory  could  restore  the  scenes  of  youth  and  of  pure, 
requited  love.  We  were  the  happiest  of  mortals  that 
evening,  which,  as  the  shadows  fell  on  the  bosom  of  the 
sea,  afforded  to  our  hearts  the  fulness  of  repose.  Betty 
was  a  picture  of  loveliness.  As  I  have  said  before,  she 
had  grown  sweeter  in  the  little  maturity  gained  since 
we  separated  in  America,  a  trifle  more  delicate,  though 
retaining  the  dimpled  charm  of  girlhood. 

Mrs.  Egerton,  delighted  at  the  success  of  her  strat 
egy,  insisted  upon  our  dining  with  them  on  the  ve 
randa  ;  nor  was  this  repast  the  less  enjoyable  because  of 
the  arrival  of  Catesby,  who  came  to  accompany  Betty 
to  her  home.  In  fact,  the  fellow's  presence  was,  in  a 
sense,  just  what  I  desired,  as  I  could  let  him  see  what 
he  had  lost.  With  the  utmost  pleasure  I  assumed  to 
wards  Betty  a  manner  not  to  be  mistaken,  which  she 
was  too  happy  to  conceal  in  return.  His  was  the  only 
discontented  face  at  the  table. 

The  next  morning  I  was  up  early  to  prepare  myself 
for  a  meeting  with  Mrs.  Sinclair  at  an  hour  mentioned 
by  Betty  as  the  most  favourable.  About  eleven  I  called, 
in  a  suit  conforming  to  the  most  minute  regulations  of 
the  prevailing  mode  precisely  for  that  hour.  The  old 
dame  received  me  coldly,  I  assure  you,  though  diplo 
matic  enough  to  be  agreeable  in  manner. 

288 


VERY   BAD    NEWS  289 

With  no  small  confidence  I  went  to  my  business.  I 
told  her  I  had  loved  Betty  a  long  time,  had  come  to 
France  to  tell  her  so,  and  had  learned  from  her  own 
lips  the  night  before  that  she  loved  me.  To  this  the 
mother  replied — which  was  her  first  lie — that  this  news 
was  a  great  surprise  to  her,  and  also — which  was  her 
second — that  she  wished  Betty  never  to  marry  at  all. 
I  could  not  help  adding,  as  a  mere  incident,  that  a  great 
change  in  my  fortune  would  enable  me  to  provide  ex 
cellently  for  her  daughter,  a  reflection  which  drew  from 
her  the  greatest  lie  of  all,  that  money  was  the  last  thing 
she  would  consider  in  a  matter  of  marriage.  The  in 
terview  ended  with  her  assuring  me  that  she  would 
report  to  her  husband  the  honour  I  had  done  them,  but, 
as  he  would  not  return  from  London  for  some  time,  I 
could  not  expect  an  immediate  reply. 

I  was  no  such  novice  as  not  to  see  I  was  merely  put 
off.  Accordingly,  after  returning  as  much  hypocrisy 
as  I  got,  I  took  my  leave  with  a  determination  to  see 
the  father  at  once.  From  Betty  I  already  knew  he 
would  be  home  that  very  night,  so  the  next  day,  exceed 
ingly  impatient,  I  went  to  the  house  again  at  an  hour 
when  I  ascertained,  through  an  exchange  of  notes  with 
Betty,  he  could  be  seen.  The  dear  girl  was,  as  one  may 
conceive,  in  so  excited  a  mind  as  scarcely  to  be  able  to 
sleep.  Avowing  her  love  in  the  tenderest  lines,  she 
urged  me  to  do  everything  possible  to  please  her  father, 
as  his  approval  was  still  indispensable  to  her. 

When  I  was  at  last  in  the  old  man's  presence  my 
courage  somewhat  failed  me,  for,  recalling  the  clever 
manner  in  which  he  had  rid  himself  of  me  that  night 
in  New  York,  I  felt  I  had  to  do  with  a  soulless  old 
hypocrite.  While  he  received  me  with  politeness,  I 


290  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

could  see  it  was  without  pleasure.    I  began  to  hesitate. 

"Don't  be  afraid,  my  dear  young  friend.  Don't,  I 
may  say,  beat  about  the  bush.  Your  errand,  as  I  al 
ready  know,  is  a  perfectly  honourable  one.  You  wish 
to  marry  Betty." 

"Why,  yes,  sir/'  I  replied ;  "that  is  what  I  wish  to 
see  you  about." 

"No  offence,  Mr.  Cameron,  no  offence.  While  I 
cannot  give  you  the  least  encouragement,  I  appreciate 
your  kindly  interest  in  my  little  girl.  You  are  going 
to  have  a  brilliant  future.  I  can  see  success  in  every 
line  of  your  face,  my  boy,  but  I  haven't  the  slightest  in 
tention  of  letting  even  a  clever  fellow  like  you  get  the 
best  of  me  in  so  important  a  bargain.  No,  I  must  have 
Betty  with  me  for  some  years  yet.  Her  mind  is  still 
unformed,  and  before  consigning  her  to  any  husband 
I  must  mature  and  perfect  the  spiritual  part  of  her,  the 
soul  of  my  child.  A  parent  has  a  great  obligation.  Mr. 
Cameron." 

Knowing  from  Betty  that  her  father  had  expressed 
himself  as  perfectly  willing  that  she  should  marry 
Catesby,  I  was  not  deceived  by  the  old  sinner's  cant, 
but,  divining  that  dollars  and  cents  were  at  the  bottom 
of  all  this,  I  proceeded,  after  declaring  everything  to 
be  inferior  to  religious  instruction,  to  say  that  I  would 
not  so  early  have  aspired  to  Betty  if  the  gods  had  not 
rained  on  me  so  golden  a  shower  since  his  family  had 
sailed  to  France. 

"My  dear  boy,"  he  exclaimed,  "your  purse  is  the  last 
item  in  my  reckoning.  Your  own  health  and  character 
are  riches  enough,  if  I  could  consider  the  marriage  at 
all." 

I  perceived  my  money  was  no  news  to  him,  yet, 


VERY   BAD   NEWS  291 

unable  to  see  what  other  objection  was  in  his  mind,  I 
dwelt  on  the  extent  of  my  inheritance  as  some  recom 
mendation,  since  it  would  enlarge  his  daughter's  luxury 
and  opportunity  to  do  good. 

"Well,"  he  said  at  length,  "if  this  matter  of  fortune 
were  of  any  importance,  which  it  is  not,  I  would  say  to 
you  in  conclusion,  as  one  of  your  best  friends,  that  you 
should  not,  as  the  saying  is,  count  your  chickens  before 
they're  hatched,  my  boy.  Don't  be  too  sure  about  all 
this  fortune." 

Feeling  certain  now  that  his  opposition  grew  out  of 
secret  doubts  concerning  my  bank  account,  I  has 
tened  to  give  him  assurances,  explaining  that  it  was  no 
mere  hope,  that  my  uncle  was  already  dead,  and  that 
I  was  actually  in  possession  as  administrator. 

"Yes,  yes,"  he  replied  in  a  way  that  showed  he  was 
tired  of  the  interview ;  "yes,  I  know  all  about  that.  What 
I  meant  was  that  even  then  mistakes  occur,  you  know. 
It  is  no  use,  my  good  fellow.  No,  I  care  nothing  about 
all  these  worldly  considerations.  I  cannot  give  up 
Betty.  No,  not  yet.  Let  me  show  you  our  pretty  little 
grounds  here." 

With  this  he  began  to  get  rid  of  me,  and,  thoroughly 
annoyed  as  well  as  perplexed,  I  soon  took  my  leave. 

Returning  to  my  hotel,  I  sat  down  in  disgust.  After 
a  moment  I  noticed  an  envelope  half  hidden  under  some 
papers  on  my  table.  It  was  a  telegram.  I  opened  it, 
saw  it  was  signed  by  Olcott,  and  slowly  read : 

"Return  immediately.    Very  bad  news.    A  will  discovered." 

Stupidly  I  read  these  words  fully  fifty  times.  At 
first  I  would  not,  could  not,  believe  them.  The  dis- 


292  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

patch  was  three  days  old  and  had  been  carelessly  deliv 
ered.  Then  I  saw  corroboration  in  the  actions  of  old 
Sinclair,  who  had  probably  already  been  advised  of  the 
real  truth  through  some  other  source,  perhaps  through 
some  inquiry  by  the  envious  and  vigilant  Catesby.  Per 
haps  the  message  was  forged,  in  order  to  turn  me  home. 
No,  the  cable  office  produced  the  original,  and  that 
night  came  another,  uring  me  to  lose  no  time  whatever. 
Not  until  long  afterwards  did  I  learn  that  my  ill  luck 
had  been  in  the  Paris  edition  of  the  Herald  about  three 
days  and  familiar  news  in  the  Riviera  to  such  as  knew 
me. 


<   IIAI'TLIv'    I. IX 
I     K'KTUKN    TO    AMKKK  A 


1""( )  telegraph    l'<»r  a  h< 
<  :iieibomi'  to  i,.i<  i 


W('ll  lipped  lll<  «li:-c|  lo  |  icily  hevvniv  .1  1 1  iee|  1 1 1;-  .1! 
Ml',.  Li'ci  Ion'  .  ,i  I  <|rv«-n  llic  nexl  niiiiiiiii",  llie'.e  vveie 
III  V  III'1.!  Ill  II  I  led  si  eps.  A  I  1  I  If  '.a  I  lie  I  II I  ir  I  <  .l!  tic  i  I  <  )|('ol  1 
nr;  ml'  nil-, n  (o  i<  linn  immediately.  I',  y  Mi'  In--. I  ol 
luck  I  w:is  nol  willioul  sufficient  money  lo  avoid,  as  UM 
NO!  hint-  in  1 1  ic  loss  ill'  1 01 1  line  is  so  had  as  liavinj;  lo 
let  others  Unovv  il,  a  ncccssily  wlii<  li,  lo  in. my,  r.  woisr 
llian  llic  loss  Msrll',  and  llns  vvr;il-.nrss  I  was  so  lilllr 
aliovc  as  lo  resolve  lo  icnorl  my  troubles  in  llie  ui(j(|- 
eialr  as|>e(  I  o|  a  nol  uncx peeled  conlcsl  willi  '.oinc  dis 
coiilenled  lieirs.  Nalnially  I  linn  ied  lo  llie  l-i-eilons 
that  evening.  Mr  l';'«-ilon,  llioiijdi  not  kelnir  wc-ll, 
and  the  brother,  ihoiijdi  mote  bilKnr,  than  I  had  evei 

see  1 1   hllll,    I  eeei  vd    1 1  ie  (  ol  <  1 1  a  II  y   III    Illy   ill    «  OIK  ea  led   ail  X 

iely.  Indeefl,  I  llniik  my  lioiihl<-s  <hd  Iheni  j'/'od,  lor 
il  is  a  soi  i  y  linlh,  lo  say  llie  llnni'  mole  broadly  lhail 
did  La  Roeliefoiieaiild,  that,  wli<-n  w<*  aie  depres'.eil, 
nolhin:'  so  eh<-crs  ir,  as  dis<  HSMII:^  tin*  fall  of  our 
friends.  Ill  proportion  as  I  fell  woise,  they  themselves 
lell  heller,  iinlil  lh<'y  siilhcienl  ly  recovered  llien  spuils 
lo  levive  my  own.  When  I  lei!  them  it  was  wilh  the 


294  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

feeling  that  they  really  valued  my  friendship  without 
regard  to  my  purse. 

During  the  night,  after  Mrs.  Egerton  had  gone  to 
bed,  the  old  bachelor  smoked  late  with  me  on  the  ve 
randa,  where  it  was  a  pleasure — and  with  me,  perhaps, 
a  last  one — to  gaze  idly  on  the  moonlit  sea.  This  man, 
at  heart  very  kind  indeed,  talked  cynically  of  earthly 
happiness.  Marriage,  he  declared,  was  the  oddest  de 
lusion  of  all. 

"People,"  said  he,  "point  to  marriages  that  are  un 
deniably  happy..  Examine  one,  and  what  do  you  find  ? 
That  there  has  been  little  shrinkage  of  fortune  or  sta 
tion  during  the  whole  of  it.  Each  year  the  husband's 
affairs  improve;  where  they  began  with  one  servant, 
they  have  risen  to  keeping  three;  where  they  used  to 
walk,  they  now  drive.  These  are  the  happy  marriages. 
How  many  happy  marriages  have  been  found  between 
couples  where  the  husband,  by  misfortune,  has  lost 
what  he  set  out  with  ?" 

"Surely,"  I  replied,  "a  woman's  love  is  not  based  on 
her  husband's  purse.  Suppose  he  does  lose  his  fortune, 
but  keeps  his  dignity  ?" 

"Dignity!"  he  exclaimed.  "You  forget.  He  can't 
lose  his  fortune  and  keep  his  dignity  at  the  same  time." 

"What!"  I  cried.  "That  would  'be  a  terrible  state  of 
affairs." 

"Yes,"  answered  he,  "a  terrible  state  it  is.  "Just 
listen  to  me  now.  This  modern  world  is  based  on  com 
merce.  Business  is  the  modern  substitute  for  war  as 
the  vocation  of  males.  Hector  could  tell  Andromoche 
that  the  field  of  battle  was  the  sphere  for  men,  but  the 
modern  woman  knows  that  the  making  of  money  is  the 
sphere  for  men.  Can't  you  see  that,  in  the  middle  ages 


I    RETURN    TO    AMERICA         295 

or  antiquity,  a  woman  could  not  have  the  same  pride  in 
her  hero,  after  he  had  been  several  times  mauled  in 
combat,  as  she  had  before,  however  much  the  poor 
devil  had  done  his  best  ?  He  had  fallen  below  the  re 
quirements  of  his  sex  according  to  the  age  he  lived  in." 

Admitting  to  myself  there  was  something  in  this,  I 
made  no  reply. 

"Now,"  he  continued,  "a  modern  wife  sees  her  hus 
band  drifting  backwards  every  year,  while  a  neigh 
bour's  husband  appears  to  be  doing  better.  After  she 
has  accepted  or  invented  one  explanation  after  another, 
she  begins  to  feel  that  perhaps  her  man  is  not  quite  so 
able  as  the  other.  That  does  him  no  good,  my  boy. 
Finally  she  has  to  deny  herself  a  number  of  things 
necessary  to  her  station  among  the  other  women,  has 
to  wear  shabby  gowns  or  receive  poor  medical  atten 
tion.  What  about  love  then,  eh?  To  be  sure,  she 
doesn't  despise  him,  but  she  grows  fretful,  feels  hurt, 
as  the  expression  is.  Then  it  is,  ten  to  one,  quarrels 
arise  that  would  never  have  been  heard  of  in  a  favour 
able  train  of  fortune." 

I  was  too  young  to  appreciate  his  meaning. 

"Now,"  he  added,  "all  this  applies  more  to  Ameri 
cans  than  to  these  Europeans.  Here  the  woman,  being 
placed  on  less  equality  with  man,  is  more  satisfied  to 
put  up  with  his  lot.  She  feels  she  has  less  right  to  dis 
pute  with  him,  provided  he  remains  kind.  Besides, 
money  is  not  so  much  the  test  here  of  a  man's  worth. 
He  may  be  less  successful  than  others  in  making  or 
keeping  it,  and  yet  retain  a  good  deal  of  dignity,  be 
cause  in  these  old  countries  he  may  fall  back  on  family 
or  learning  as  his  boast,  and  if  his  wife  sees  him  re 
spected  or  sought  for  these,  she  may  feel  they  have 


296  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

things  in  their  home  that  certain  other  persons  would 
be  exceedingly  glad  to  have." 

Thus  the  old  cynic  delighted  his  mind  with  rambling 
chat  until  I  happened  to  speak  despondently  of  my  pres 
ent  hopes  of  Betty.  I  even  remarked  that  probably  a 
fellow  who  had  perhaps  lost  everything  had  best  drop 
all  thought  of  marrying  a  girl  brought  up  in  luxury. 

"Did  ever  any  one  hear  the  like !"  he  exclaimed  tes 
tily.  "Why  the  devil  should  you  do  that?  That  girl 
would  make  you  happy  in  a  hovel.  Are  you  going  to 
let  that  sneak,  Catesby,  cheat  you  out  of  her?  Every 
time  I  see  that  fellow's  pale  skin  I  think  of  Pope's  line 
about  Hervey,  The  mere  white  curd  of  ass'  milk.' ' 

"Don't  talk  to  me  about  that  fellow!"  I  cried.  "If 
I  didn't  love  Betty  at  all,  I'd  see  that  he  never  got  her. 
No,  sir.  This  business  will  end  all  right.  You'll  have 
a  cablegram  from  me  some  afternoon  here  that  will 
satisfy  every  one." 

He  opened  a  bottle  of  champagne,  in  which  we 
toasted  Betty  two  or  three  times,  and  I  quitted  him  in 
good  spirits. 

Betty  was  there  at  eleven  the  next  day,  and,  as  I  had 
arrived  before  her,  it  devolved  upon  me  to  tell  her  the 
news.  Already  depressed  by  her  parents'  account  of 
my  rejection,  she  was  deeply  disturbed  at  my  incurring, 
as  we  feared,  a  loss  of  the  only  thing  that  could  possibly 
recommend  me  to  them;  nor  could  she  refrain  from 
tears  when  I  announced  my  having  to  hurry  across  the 
ocean  at  once.  Indeed,  she  was  so  moved  as  to  bestow 
upon  me,  for  the  first  time,  a  voluntary  caress,  and  we 
passed  an  hour  or  two  in  the  most  exquisite  interchange 
of  sentiment,  of  sighs  and  hopes  and  lovers'  vows. 
Taking  a  little  courage  from  a  sanguine  turn  which 


I   RETURN   TO   AMERICA        297 

gradually  came  on  me,  she  endeavoured  to  play  a  few 
strains  on  the  piano,  until  her  heart  failed  her  in  that 
old  air  from  Norma,  so  sweetly  mournful. 

After  arranging  a  means  of  corresponding  through 
Mrs.  Egerton,  I  was  at  length  compelled  to  press  her 
hand  for  the  last  time  and  to  say  good-bye  in  order  to 
catch  a  train  that  would  not  wait  for  lovers.  This  be 
ing  the  greatest  pain  I  had  ever  suffered,  I  left  Betty 
with  such  sadness  as  I  was  sure  I  never  could  feel 
again. 


CHAPTER  LX 
MY   VOYAGE   HOMEWARD 


two  days  I  took  boat  at  Cherbourg  for 
New  York  in  a  more  depressed  frame  of  mind 
than  I  had  been  in  during  all  that  penniless  period  be 
fore  my  recent  good  fortune.  They  who  have  never 
had  anything  commonly  possess  at  least  hope,  but  they 
who  have  lost  everything  generally  lose  hope  with  the 
rest. 

It  being  night  when  I  went  aboard,  I  knew  nothing, 
as  I  cared  nothing,  about  my  fellow-passengers  ;  but  the 
next  morning  I  was  delighted  to  meet  Senator  Baxom, 
who,  with  his  wife,  was  returning  to  America.  The 
statesman  was  as  pleased  as  I  at  the  meeting.  Noticing 
before  long  that  I  wore  a  rather  long  face,  not  due  to 
any  apparent  seasickness,  he  remarked  that  I  was  prob 
ably  as  reluctant  as  most  of  my  countrymen  nowadays 
to  come  back  to  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the 
brave.  Upon  this  I  made  a  frank  confession  of  the 
change  in  the  weather-vane  of  my  luck,  that  there  had 
turned  up  a  will  in  which  I  appeared  to  be  entirely  left 
out,  and  that  nothing  could  have  given  my  uncle  more 
joy,  in  my  opinion,  than  an  opportunity  to  exclude  me. 
This  led  to  a  long  discussion  of  both  his  life  and  sur 
roundings,  the  Senator  evincing  his  curiosity  by  many 
sagacious  questions.  After  I  had  done,  he  crunched 

298 


MY   VOYAGE   HOMEWARD       299 

his  cigar  more  firmly  than  ever  in  the  corner  of  his 
mouth  and,  looking  at  me  shrewdly,  said : 

"Cameron,  I'll  bet  you  ten  to  one  this  damned  will 
is  a  blackmailing  forgery.  What's  the  reason  it's  been 
so  long  in  turning  up?  That  Dole  woman  and  that 
chippy  you  met  in  Albany !  Depend  on  it,  now,  there's 
an  extra  card  in  the  pack." 

I  could  only  reply  that  I  hoped  he  was  right. 

"Haven't  the  slightest  doubt  of  it,"  continued  the 
Senator.  "Nine  times  in  ten,  to-day,  when  a  man  dies 
somebody  either  makes  a  will  for  him  or  breaks  the  one 
he  made.  A  more  rascally  practice  than  the  attacks 
made  on  wills  nowadays  I  don't  know." 

"Of  course,"  I  observed,  from  a  different  point  of 
view,  "it  may  become  a  man's  duty  to  attack  one  if  he  is 
wronged." 

"Wronged  and  be  hanged,"  retorted  the  Senator. 
"These  will-breakers  are  all  blackmailers." 

"You  see,"  I  proceeded,  "I  was  thinking  that,  sup 
posing  this  will  of  my  uncle's,  supposing,  I  say,  that  he 
did  make  it,  which  I  don't  believe  he  did,  it  might  not 
be  just  to  myself  to  acquiesce  in  it.  I " 

"Oh,  certainly,"  exclaimed  he;  "acquiesce  in  noth 
ing.  If  the  old  devil  left  you  out,  you  ought  to  fight." 

"I  am  glad  you  think  so,"  I  replied ;  "though  I  sup 
pose  it  would  do  me  no  good,  if  the  thing  is  genuine." 

"Yes,  but  make  the  infernal  thieves  give  you  some 
thing,  anyway,"  he  insisted.  "You  have  your  legal 
right  to  litigate  and  to  keep  them  out  of  it  all  until  they 
compromise." 

The  Senator  and  his  lady  both  showed  me  undimin- 
ished  attention,  something  I  can  never  forget,  since 
nothing  is  more  unusual  in  a  country  in  which  wealth 


300  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

is  the  most  important  possession.  Our  friends  in  Amer 
ica  are  not  so  base  as  to  desert  us  in  adversity,  but  they 
are  seldom  so  proud  of  us,  a  circumstance  not  so  com 
monly  true  in  countries  where  society  is  regulated  on 
blood  or  intellect  as  well  as  on  riches,  since  he  who  loses 
or  never  had  the  latter  may  still  be  an  object  of  general 
envy  by  reason  of  the  former. 

The  Senator  during  the  remainder  of  the  voyage  put 
life  in  me  by  his  denunciation  of  the  gang  of  forgers, 
as  he  called  them,  while  unfolding  to  me  at  the  same 
time  a  large  project  in  which  he  had  been  inducing  an 
English  syndicate  to  invest.  In  this,  he  assured  me,  he 
could  provide  me  an  income  during  any  litigation  about 
the  estate,  but,  as  this  scheme  might  be  a  few  months 
delayed  in  case  of  war  with  Spain,  he  advised  me  to 
make  the  most  of  an  acquaintance  he  had  been  forming 
for  me  on  the  steamer  with  one  of  the  most  prominent 
railway  men  in  the  country. 

This  gentleman,  a  short,  cold-eyed  man,  was  the  in 
carnation  of  those  maxims  in  which  our  men  of  affairs 
abound.  Given  over  to  the  making  of  money,  our  whole 
population  from  sea  to  sea  has  a  character  in  which 
severity  in  business  is  as  much  a  virtue  as  giving  or 
enduring  pain  was  in  ancient  Sparta.  What  other 
country  than  our  own  invented  "Time  is  money,"  a 
principle  by  which  every  social  courtesy  during  the 
hours  of  business  is  regarded  as  folly  and  the  polite 
manners  of  all  other  countries  are  thrown  off  as  an 
encumbrance.  "Business  is  business"  is  another  of  our 
mottoes,  a  saying  by  which  we  justify  ourselves  when 
we  drive  from  our  employment  a  noble  fellow  who,  we 
admit,  had  every  virtue  in  the  world,  and  was  merely 
slow,  or  when  we  mercilessly  ruin  an  honest  rival  by 


MY   VOYAGE   HOMEWARD       301 

a  losing  competition.  The  whole  country  is  one  camp 
of  money-makers.  These  cold  maxims  are  accepted  as 
virtue.  The  young,  brought  up  to  them,  emulate  their 
fathers  in  this  Laconian  discipline  of  modern  war. 

This  little  Ulysses  of  our  railways  had  very  little  to 
say,  fearing  it  would  cost  him  something  in  some  way 
to  let  anything  escape,  as  Homer  would  call  it,  the 
hedge  of  his  teeth ;  nor  could  I  have  hoped  to  have  any 
chats  with  him  if  he  had  not  perceived  the  friendship 
of  a  Senator  who  had  several  years  remaining  in  his 
term.  As  he  seldom  went  out  of  his  apartments  on  the 
ship,  he  was  not  sorry,  perhaps,  to  let  me  talk  to  him 
occasionally  by  way  of  diverting  him,  so  one  day  he 
remarked : 

"Mr.  Cameron,  if  you  will  call  at  my  office  after  you 
get  your  affairs  in  some  order  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you, 
and  if  you  need  any  sort  of  employment  at  that  time,  I 
think  I  could  make  you  a  secretaryship  that  I  have  in 
mind." 

I  thanked  him,  for  I  knew  he  would  not  have  me  call 
at  his  office  for  pleasure.  He  continued : 

"I  am  frank  to  say  I  would  rather  have  had  a  chance 
to  form  my  judgment  of  you  ashore  than  here,  where 
none  of  your  business  habits,  if  you  have  any,  can  be 
seen.  Now,  in  town,  if  I  should  see  a  young  man  at 
lunch  taking  a  glass  of  beer  or  wine,  no  matter  how 
temperate  he  might  be,  I  should  have  no  use  for  him, 
this  not  because  I  should  be  afraid  of  his  turning  sot, 
but  because  the  fellow  had  no  more  sense  than  to  let 
other  men  get  on  faster.  Any  man  in  America  who 
takes  spirits  at  noon,  or  eats  heartily  at  noon,  is  just 
so  much  slower  than  one  who  doesn't.  Drink,  if  it 
doesn't  make  a  man  talk  too  much,  makes  his  wits 


302  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

foggy  or  drowsy.  Besides,  it  makes  him  waste  time  at 
the  table." 

I  had  the  sense  to  concede  all  this ;  so  he,  at  his  lei 
sure,  added : 

"It  is  the  same  with  a  young  man  who  plays  on  the 
piano  or  some  such  instrument.  Even  if  he  is  not  what 
you  call  a  musician,  I  still  have  no  use  for  him.  What 
is  wrong  with  him  is  this :  If  his  mind  is  consumed 
with  the  desire  to  make  money,  as  it  should  be,  he  can't 
retain  either  the  time  or  inclination  to  thrum  on  those 
keys.  I  don't  know  why  it  is,  but  our  strong  young 
men  don't  have  these  habits." 


CHAPTER  LXI 
I    FIND    LILLIAN    ABOARD 

T  T  was  probably  the  third  day  at  sea,  when,  walking 
A  alone,  I  heard  a  rapid  tapping  on  a  stateroom  win 
dow.  Turning  toward  it,  I  saw  the  golden  hair  and 
smiling  face  of  Lillian. 

"Why,  Lillian !"  I  exclaimed,  as  soon  as  I  could  join 
her.  "This  is  good  luck  in " 

"Hush !  Not  Lillian,  dear  fellow,"  she  replied.  "I'm 
incog  here;  not  out  of  these  rooms,  either,  except  at 
night.  I'm  utterly  tired  of  being  stared  at,  so  I  sleep 
all  day.  But,  Charles,  isn't  this  sudden,  and " 

"Haven't  you  heard,  Lillian,  about  the  will  ?" 

"The  will,  Charles !  Don't  jest,"  she  answered  in  a 
tone  of  no  small  excitement. 

"Yes,  there's  one  been  found,"  said  I,  unable,  how 
ever,  to  give  her  particulars  beyond  the  meagre  mes 
sage  sent  me. 

"But  which  will  does  Olcott  mean?"  she  asked  im 
patiently. 

"Which?"  I  asked.  "One's  bad  enough.  You  speak 
as  if  there  might " 

"Yes,  yes,"  responded  she.  "I'm  disturbed  about 
the  thing." 

"Well,  let  the  worst  come  of  it  to  me,  I  hope,"  said 
I,  "that  the  best  is  coming  to  you." 

303 


304  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"No,  no,  Charles,  not  that.  You  don't  know  what 
you're  talking  about,  you  dear  man.  That  provoking 
Olcott,  to  give  you  no  particulars.  Men  are  so  absurd 
about  some  things." 

For  my  life  I  could  not  quite  understand  her  per 
turbation,  except  that,  having  some  time  ago  given  up 
hope  of  a  legacy,  she  was  now  reviving  her  expecta 
tions.  Her  friendship  for  me,  however,  was  so  appar 
ent  that  I  put  upon  everything  she  did  the  kindest 
thoughts. 

"What  a  mature  fellow  you've  become  since  I  first 
met  you,"  she  remarked  one  day  as  I  caught  her  look 
ing  oddly  at  me. 

While  we  saw  each  other  frequently  before  reaching 
port,  she  stayed  within  her  apartment  altogether;  nor 
did  she  see  any  others  than  me  except,  towards  the  last, 
the  Senator  and  his  wife,  who  wrere  enthusiastic  at  her 
sweetness  no  less  than  her  beauty. 

"Cameron,"  whispered  the  Senator  to  me,  "you're  a 
devil  of  a  fellow  in  gathering  beauties.  There's  that 
Gordon  woman  on  your  list,  then  little  Sinclair,  and 
now  Lillian  Evanson.  If  I  were  managing  a  theatrical 
house,  hanged  if  I  wouldn't  engage  you  to  pick  the 
girls !  God,  this  Evanson  woman  makes  an  old  fellow 
like  me  feel  as  if  he  were  eighteen  again !" 

Thus  we  beguiled  our  time,  and,  although  I  had 
much  to  think  of  in  my  inheritance,  I  did  not  fail,  be 
tween  my  daily  chats  with  Lillian,  to  talk,  as  occasion 
permitted,  with  Worryman,  too,  for  the  world  was  ap 
parently  before  me  again  in  all  its  rigours. 

Meanwhile,  I  was  piqued  because  in  several  conver 
sations  Lillian  betrayed  not  the  least  curiosity  concern 
ing  Betty,  whose  portrait  I  at  length  offered  her  one 


I    FIND    LILLIAN    ABOARD       305 

day  with  an  affectation  of  unconcern.  She  looked  at 
it  quickly  and  returned  it  in  a  degree  of  abruptness  by 
a  turn  of  her  wrist,  saying,  after  a  moment's  hesita 
tion: 

"She's  very  pretty — very,  in  that  style.  You  always 
were  lucky." 

However,  it  was  a  dry  sort  of  compliment  from  so 
pleasant  a  source. 

"Lillian,"  I  remarked,  "you've  some  trouble  on  your 
dear  old  head.  Now " 

"Oh,  dear,  no,  nothing,"  she  replied.  "This  new 

play,  of  course "  And  then  she  rattled  on  about 

that. 

"By  the  way,"  I  inquired,  "as  I  didn't  come  aboard 
incog  like  yourself,  why  didn't  you  send  for  me  at 
once?  You  surely  saw  my  name  in  the  printed  list." 

She  coloured  slightly  as  she  replied : 

"What  list?  Oh,  yes,  to  be  honest,  I  did  see  your 
name,  but  made  up  my  mind  to  let  you  alone.  Then  I 
saw  you  passing  the  window,  and  was  too  glad,  you  old 
rascal,  to  conceal  it  any  longer." 

Some  cloud  was  evidently  on  Lillian's  spirits.  Once 
I  caught  her  looking  at  me  with  an  expression  of  deep 
regard,  and  when  she  saw  that  it  was  noticed  she  re 
marked  : 

"I  was  just  perceiving  how  mature  you've  grown 
lately." 

"I  hope  I'm  none  the  worse  for  it,  Lillian." 

"Ye-es.  It's  becoming  to  you.  You  know,  you 
seemed  rather  young,  even  boyish,  when  I  first  met 
you,  though  already  beyond  your  years  in  a  good  many 
things." 

"Lord,  how  I  loved  you  then!"  I  remarked  with  a 


306  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

smile,  in  which,  though,  she  scarcely  joined. 

"You  speak  of  it  pretty  heartily  in  the  past  tense.  Is 
it  so  delightful  to  be  cured  ?" 

"Who  says  I  am  cured?"  I  asked,  being  something 
of  a  flirt  myself. 

"Don't  pretend  now/'  she  replied,  a  little  teased. 
"You  don't  have  to  make  believe  to  Lillian." 

On  another  occasion  she  fell  to  talking  of  my  boy 
hood,  of  my  mother  and  my  playmates. 

"How  droll  you  must  have  seemed  as  a  child.  Have 
you  a  photograph  of  yourself  in  those  days?" 

Let  me,  however,  even  distantly  approach  the  sub 
ject  of  my  uncle,  she  would  become  little  less  than  de 
pressed.  Something,  it  was  plain,  had  occurred  which 
she  could  never  disclose. 


CHAPTER  LXII 
THE  WILL  THAT  RUINED  ME 

'"THE  use  of  wealth  is  not  to  make  you  happy,  which 
is  impossible,  but,  by  protecting  you  against  want, 
to  save  you  from  being  more  unhappy  than  you  are. 
This  remains  its  comfort  so  long  as  wealth  remains. 
When  wealth  is  lost,  however,  we  are  more  miserable 
than  we  ever  could  have  been  had  we  not  had  it  at  all. 
These  reflections  soon  crowded  upon  me  after  my  re 
turn,  when  I  found  myself  without  other  cash  than 
what  I  could  get*  from  Olcott,  even  before  I  had  time 
to  devour  his  narrative  of  my  troubles. 

It  was  a  short  story.  Not  long  after  my  departure 
the  vindictive  Whirl  had  set  one  of  its  reporters  upon 
the  question  of  my  inheritance,  with  the  result  that 
vague  stories  both  of  my  extravagance  and  of  my 
uncle's  dislike  of  me  began  to  appear.  Why,  it  was 
asked,  had  a  relative  by  whom,  it  was  now  known,  I 
had  been  detested,  omitted  to  make  a  will  without 
which  every  dollar  he  had  should  descend  to  me  as  cer 
tainly  as  fate  ?  Was  he  not  known  to  be  a  careful  man 
in  his  affairs?  Was  it  likely  he  would  pass  by  the 
friends  whom  he  loved  and  the  servants  he  had  had  so 
many  years  to  leave  all  to  a  worthless  nephew  ? 

This  was  the  first  result  of  the  Whirl's  investigation 
at  Albany.  Then  appeared  worse.  Had  I  not  visited 

307 


308  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Albany  a  few  days  before  his  death?  Why?  Had  I 
been  invited  there?  Next,  who  was  this  young  woman 
that  I  spent  the  evening  with  ?  The  Whirl  would  see. 
Its  readers  should  know. 

Then  came  another  stage.  Why  had  I  slipped  off  to 
Europe  so  suddenly?  Why  had  I  lingered  in  New 
York  so  long  and  then  taken  to  my  heels  in  a  trice? 
Had  a  certain  Maud  Start  anything  to  do  with  it  ?  Had 
I  not  taken  her  to  England  with  me?  Had  she  not 
been  intimate  with  my  uncle,  very  intimate,  indeed? 
Had  we  ever  talked  about  a  will  and  how  it  might  be 
gotten  out  of  the  way  ? 

Finally  the  Whirl's  faithful  men  had  brought  the 
will,  the  long-lost  will,  to  light,  an  instrument 
I  had  endeavoured  to  obtain  with  a  view  to  destroy 
it,  and  which  I  had  at  least  thought  wholly  lost  to  the 
knowledge  of  others,  I,  the  official  administrator,  sworn 
to  do  my  duty,  so  help  me  God ! 

Such  was  the  course  of  these  reptiles  in  their  malice 
that  I  could  hardly  attend  it  either  in  the  illustrated 
sheets  that  Olcott  spread  before  me  or  in  his  own  hur 
ried  account  of  their  deviltry.  My  insipid-looking  pic 
ture  united  with  that  of  Maria  Dole,  Maud  Start,  and 
even  of  the  butler,  I  passed  in  excitement  to  the  one 
great  question.  This  will,  had  Olcott  seen  it?  What 
did  it  provide  ? 

The  original  Olcott  had  seen,  and  its  contents  had 
been  set  out  verbatim  in  all  the  daily  press.  By  its  terms 
there  was  given  to  charitable  institutions,  several  of 
them,  fifty  thousand  dollars  each ;  to  Maud  Start,  four 
hundred  thousand  dollars;  to  Maria  Dole,  a  half  mil 
lion  ;  to  the  other  servants,  smaller  but  liberal  portions  ; 
to  seven  friends  in  Albany,  about  twenty  thousand  dol- 


THE  WILL  THAT  RUINED  ME    309 

lars  each ;  and,  as  to  myself,  seventy-five  thousand  dol 
lars,  which  was  to  be  forfeited  in  case  I  endeavoured 
to  break  the  will. 

"This  is  a  forgery,  must  be  a  forgery,"  I  cried. 

"I  am  sorry  to  say,"  replied  Olcott,  "that,  after  ex 
amining  samples  of  your  uncle's  signature  to  other 
documents  and  letters,  it  looks  genuine  to  me." 

"But  where  was  it  found  ?" 

"In  the  office  of  a  firm  of  lawyers  in  New  York, 
that  he  used  to  consult  occasionally,  Short  &  Brown." 

This  intelligence  seeming  to  settle  the  question,  I 
buried  my  head  in  my  hands  beneath  the  blow. 

"However,"  continued  Olcott,  "not  to  give  you  any 
hope,  for  I  don't  cling  to  the  fact  greatly  myself,  it  is 
not  known  who  drew  the  will." 

"Not  Short  &  Brown?" 

"No.  They  say  they  know  nothing  of  it ;  that,  while 
they  would  do  legal  business  for  the  old  man  and  al 
lowed  him  a  compartment  in  their  safe  for  papers  of 
all  sorts,  some  drawn  by  themselves,  they  did  not  draw 
this  will.  They  think  it's  genuine,  though." 

During  the  next  two  days  we  had  endless  consulta 
tions  with  my  lawyers,  who,  of  course,  assured  me  it 
was  a  serious  business.  In  their  company  I  examined 
the  will  at  the  office  of  Short  &  Brown,  whom  I  re 
garded  with  suspicion,  though  they  seemed  very  little 
to  deserve  it.  It  was  witnessed  by  two  of  my  uncle's 
servants  who  were  not  mentioned  in  it,  and  who,  hav 
ing  been  already  interrogated  at  Albany  by  Olcott  him 
self,  had,  while  complaining  bitterly  of  their  being  left 
out,  admitted  their  attestation  of  the  signature.  Ex 
perts,  too,  had  agreed  there  was  no  doubt  of  the  signa- 


310  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

ture's  being  in  my  uncle's  own  hand.  It  was  dated 
about  a  year  before  his  death. 

If  this  will  was  a  forgery,  it  was  a  clever  scheme  in 
more  ways  than  that  of  handwriting.  The  legacy  to 
me,  for  instance,  was  a  strong  temptation,  should  I 
be  overwhelmed  by  the  first  appearances  of  genuine 
ness,  to  acquiesce  rather  than  forfeit  so  large  a  sum, 
while  the  distribution  to  all  the  servants  next  my  uncle's 
person  would  assure  their  testifying  to  a  hundred  cir 
cumstances  and  utterances  before  his  death  to  prove 
the  existence  of  the  document  while  he  lived. 

Why  had  not  Short  &  Brown  produced  this  will  at 
once,  was  a  natural  question  which  these  gentlemen 
answered  without  embarrassment,  saying  that  after  my 
uncle's  death  they  had  looked  in  his  compartment  and 
found  nothing,  reminding  me  that  they  had  once  made 
a  fruitless  search  at  my  instance  for  all  documents  be 
longing  to  him  whom  I  thought  intestate.  After  my 
departure  to  Europe  they  had  been  sought  twice  by 
reporters  of  the  Whirl  and  several  times  by  Maria  Dole, 
who  had  become  exceedingly  insistent  as  well  as  dis 
trustful  of  the  firm.  Finally  the  will  was  found  in  the 
office  upon  a  table  beneath  some  comparatively  recent 
accumulations  of  neglected  business.  Mr.  Short  had 
been  unusually  immersed  in  litigation  in  Florida,  Mr. 
Brown  unravelling  some  tangled  corporation,  and  the 
junior  members  engulfed  in  fresh  retainers,  until  the 
files  had  become  disordered.  The  firm  being  in  excel 
lent  standing,  it  was  plain  they  were  honest  in  this 
affair,  by  which,  besides,  they  were  not  to  profit,  as 
they  now  declined  to  be  retained  by  anybody  connected 
with  it. 

Sad  in  heart  I  returned  to  Albany.    A  fat  trust  com- 


THE  WILL  THAT  RUINED  ME     311 

pany  being  named  as  executor,  it  was  clear  I  could  do 
no  less  than  resign  at  once,  even  though  I  should  intend 
a  contest  of  the  will.  Detestable  situation!  My  ac 
counts  of  what  I  deemed  my  own  estate  must  now 
undergo  a  zealous  examination.  Why  had  I  spent  ten 
dollars  on  this  or  that?  Why  had  I  paid  such  fees  to 
counsel?  Why  had  I  drawn  a  few  hundred  dollars 
on  the  faith  of  my  own  compensation? 

But  the  ingratitude  of  bankers  was  what  smote  me 
to  the  soul.  Of  all  the  forms  of  trade,  banking  is  un 
doubtedly  the  most  one-sided.  Its  principle  is  that  the 
bank  shall  lend  the  depositor  his  own  money,  exact 
security  from  him,  and  charge  him  interest,  while  the 
depositor  shall  lend  the  bank  his  average  cash  reserve 
without  interest  and  without  security.  In  vain  will  it 
be  said  that  the  deposit  is  at  the  depositor's  check,  for 
experience  has  established  an  average  which  assures 
a  fair  reinforcement  of  the  deposits  notwithstanding 
the  checks.  Why  is  it  that  after  paying  a  note  with 
interest  we  thank  the  banker?  He  sold  us  gold  and 
we  paid  him  for  it.  Do  we  thank  a  merchant  when 
we  pay  him  for  our  furniture  ? 

These  gentlemen,  who  had  enjoyed  my  official  de 
posits  and  had  pressed  on  the  heir  and  administrator 
whatever  loans  I  had  wanted,  who  had  received  me 
with  so  many  smiles,  and  had  encouraged  my  extrava 
gance  by  reminding  me  that  we  had  only  one  life  to 
live  or  that  I  should  have  a  good  time  while  it  did 
live,  since  I  would  be  a  long  time  dead,  these  finan 
ciers  now  became  thoughtful.  I  applied,  embarrassed  for 
money,  to  one  whose  grin  of  welcome  had  been  par 
ticularly  broad  before  the  infernal  will  turned  up,  for  a 
thousand  dollars  to  supply  me  while  I  looked  about  me 


312  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

in  the  new  situation.  Though  the  ungrateful  fellow  had 
at  that  very  moment  full  one  hundred  thousand  cash 
by  my  deposits  as  administrator,  he  declared  he  was 
sorry  he  could  not  accommodate  me,  funds  being  un 
usually  low.  With  some  shame  I  reminded  him  I  had 
at  least  seventy-five  thousand  by  the  will,  upon  which 
he  seemed  to  remember  that  his  funds  were  more  plen 
tiful  and  would  have  let  me  have  something  upon  the 
security  of  a  formal  assignment  of  my  legacy,  when  I 
told  him  I  might  attack  the  will  and  consequently  be  a 
man  and  risk  the  loss  of  the  legacy.  This  caused  his 
funds  again  to  appear  low,  so  I  left  him  in  disgust. 

It  was  a  miserable  visit,  for  in  the  midst  of  my  im- 
pecuniosity  came  the  anger  of  my  tradesmen,  in  whose 
favour  my  wasteful  gang  of  servants  had  been  running 
woeful  and,  until  now,  encouraged  accounts.  Indeed, 
notwithstanding  these  grocers  and  bakers  and  other 
vendors  had  been  plainly  in  league  with  my  people  to 
rob  me,  they  assailed  me  with  virtuous  whining  to  the 
point  of  insult,  for  these  were  my  personal  obligations 
and  not  chargeable  to  the  estate.  Against  the  servants, 
especially  the  rascally  butler,  I  felt  little  less  than  rage, 
as  the  scoundrel,  by  reason  of  his  legacy,  was  in  a  posi 
tion  to  laugh  in  my  face.  Not  a  degree  of  courtesy  did 
I  find  among  them.  In  fact,  they  one  and  all  regarded 
me  as  having  tried  to  cheat  them  by  concealing  the  will. 

The  last  stroke  was  felt  when  I  turned  for  money 
to  an  extravagant  young  acquaintance,  whom  I  had 
repeatedly  lent  a  hundred  dollars.  Assuring  him  my 
reluctance  to  press  him,  I  told  him  what  embarrassment 
I  was  in  by  reason  of  my  many  thoughtless  expendi 
tures.  He  told  me  he  would  pay  me  a  part  the  follow 
ing  day,  upon  which  I  searched  for  him  to  no  purpose 


THE  WILL  THAT  RUINED  ME    313 

during  the  next  twenty-four  hours,  for  the  lad  had 
slipped  to  New  York.  There,  however,  I  chanced  to 
fall  in  with  him  at  a  prominent  hotel. 

"Ned,"  I  said,  "for  the  Lord's  sake,  help  me  with  a 
hundred  or  two.  I  don't  like  to  be  borrowing  from 
rny  friends,  you  know,  when  the  other  boys  owe  me 
something,  in  the  present  situation." 

"Now,  Cameron,"  this  snipe  had  the  impudence  to 
reply,  "you  have  got  to  learn  some  patience  in  this 
thing.  You've  got  to  be  reasonable.  I  don't  see  what 
right  you  had  to  squander  money  by  the  thousands 
the  past  year,  as  you  know  you  have,  and  then  annoy 
a  gentleman  in  this  fashion.  Excuse  me,  please.  I'll 
attend  to  the  thing,  you  may  rest  assured." 

The  difference  in  the  way  I  was  received  at  the  clubs 
and  public  places  of  fashion  would  have  embittered 
my  mind  had  I  not  felt  at  heart  sanguine  of  a  restora 
tion  of  my  fortune,  in  which  state  of  mind  I  derived 
benefit  from  this  experience  without  other  than  brief 
vexation.  Discontent,  though,  I  could  not  wholly  es 
cape.  Where  I  had  formerly  been  eyed  by  others,  I 
already  found  myself  viewing  the  more  successful  with 
a  degree  of  envy,  for  he  who  has  once  relished  the 
world  of  fashion  must  either  make  others  discontented 
by  his  eminence  or  be  discontented  himself  for  want  of 
it.  One  or  two  dandies  that  had  previously  disliked 
me  now  \vent  so  far  as  to  snub  me,  an  indignity  I  felt 
infinitely  more  keenly  than  the  neglect  of  such  as,  being 
little  more  fortunate  than  myself,  merely  avoided  me, 
though  they  had  formerly  been  at  pains  to  fall  in  my 
way.  We  sometimes  forgive  insults  from  our  inferiors, 
but  never  from  our  superiors. 


314  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

I  felt,  in  short,  the  experience  of  Walpole,  who,  after 
his  fall,  declared  he  now  had  the  singular  effect  of  scat 
tering  every  cluster  of  gentlemen  he  happened  to  ap 
proach. 


CHAPTER  LXIII 
A   CONVERSATION 

INCE  I  had  seen  Conners  pass  me  in  the  apartment 
house  just  before  my  sailing-  to  Europe  I  had  not 
doubted  his  being  then  on  his  way  to  Lillian,  and  had 
either  he  or  she  derived  a  nickel  under  the  will,  I  should 
have  been  sure  of  mischief.  As  it  was,  I  acquitted 
her  promptly  in  my  mind,  nor,  after  an  acquaintance 
of  more  than  a  year,  could  I  persuade  myself  that  she 
would  wrong  me. 

She  was  now  in  town  finishing  her  rehearsals,  and, 
the  opening  night  having  come,  I  was  glad  to  attend 
in  such  spirits  as  I  could,  resolving  to  try  to  see  her 
after  the  play  to  congratulate  her.  In  this  I  was  agree 
ably  anticipated.  There  was  brought  a  message  from 
Lillian  herself  that  she  especially  desired  to  see  me  after 
the  curtain. 

Her  triumph  was  complete.  The  house  was  tumul- 
tuously  happy.  Calls  and  recalls  brought  out  the  ra 
diant  queen,  and,  though  I  had  ceased  to  love  her,  1 
lost  not  a  moment  in  joining  her  at  the  close.  What 
a  vision  she  was,  flushed  with  success. 

"Come,"  said  she,  "come  into  my  carriage.  I  must 
see  you  to-night  or  die." 

I  saw  that  she  was  in  much  excitement,  but,  as  I  laid 
it  to  the  play,  I  made  little  of  it. 

315 


316  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"You  were  divine  tonight,"  I  said  as  we  sank  into 
our  seats  in  the  carriage. 

"Ah,  you  dear  fellow,  you  dear  boy,"  she  replied 
with  much  emotion.  "I  saw  you  sitting  there  and  I 
thought  of  your  first  days  in  New  York  and  how  you 
adored  me.  I  am  miserable,  miserable  to-night." 

Putting  my  arms  around  her,  I  enjoyed  a  kiss,  for 
which  a  year  before  I  would  have  exchanged  my  hopes 
of  heaven.  Not  checking  me,  she  added : 

"Don't  mistake  all  this,  Charles.  I'm  the  worst  en 
emy  you  have,  the  worst  you  have.  Tell  the  man  to 
drive  an  hour  through  the  park — until  we  stop  him. 
I  must,  must  talk  with  you." 

By  this  time  I  was  in  no  small  excitement,  as  I  per 
ceived  her  perturbation  arose  from  some  unusual  cause. 

"Lillian,"  I  asked,  "what  in  the  world  is  the  matter 
with  you  ?" 

Leaning  on  me  heavily,  she  took  one  of  my  hands 
in  both  her  own,  pressing  it  until  it  pained  me. 

"Charles,  dear  man,  there's  something  I  ought  to 
have  told  you  long  ago,  but  couldn't." 

It  was  some  time  before  the  spoke  again,  and  then 
in  a  very  low  voice. 

"That  will,  are  you  going  to  fight  it,  fight  it  hard?" 

I  assured  her  I  was,  adding  that  she  was  kind  to  feel 
so  intensely  about  it. 

"And  what  do  your  lawyers  say?  Is  it  hopeless, 
hopeless,  Charles?" 

"It's  pretty  bad,  Lillian,  pretty  bad." 

"Oh,  I  feared  that,"  she  continued.  Then,  her  voice 
sinking  lower,  she  whispered  : 

"That  is  not  the  true  will.  There  is  another,  another 
remembering  you.' 


A   CONVERSATION  317 

"You  mean  the  one  that  fellow  Conners  tells  of?"  I 
exclaimed. 

"No,  a  later  one — the  only  one.  Conners  has  a  story 
of  one  three  years  ago.  He  is  in  love  with  my  Lizette, 
but  knows  nothing  of  the  later  one.  He  only  knows  he 
witnessed  something.  I  must  tell  you  all." 

Here  she  paused  a  moment. 

"Charles,  two<  weeks  before  your  uncle  died  he  exe 
cuted  the  cruellest  will  that  man  ever  drew.  He  was 
the  most  selfish  man  that  ever  lived.  We  had  quar 
relled.  I  had  told  the  old  libertine  to  leave  me  forever, 
to  go  back  to  Maud  Start  or  whom  he  pleased.  Ugh ! 
It  makes  my  flesh  creep  to  think  of  him.  We  had  a 
scene — two  or  three  of  them,  I  don't  know  how  many. 
The  man  was  crazy  about  me,  crazy.  Well,  it  had  to 
come,  sooner  or  later,  this  breaking  off,  and,  as  for  his 
diamonds  and  the  like,  I  wish  I  had  never  seen  them, 
now  that  I  shall  be  forced  to  be  in  everybody's  mouth 
as  the  mistress  of  that  old  dotard." 

"What  do  you  mean?  They  never  said  quite  that, 
Lillian,  and  now  it's  all  in  the  past,"  I  said,  too  sorry 
for  her  to  press  a  question  about  the  will. 

"Oh,  not  past — only  to  come,"  she  responded. 
"Charles,  that  brute,  that  ingenious  old  fiend,  drew  a 
will  leaving  me  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  because, 
as  he  says  it,  it  is  in  payment — think  of  it! — in  pay 
ment  of  my  services  as  his — you  know  what  I  mean.  I 
can't  mention  that  vile  word.  He  used  it,  though.  And 
it's  a  lie,  lie,  lie." 

The  poor  beauty  could  do  nothing  but  weep.  All 
I  could  exclaim  was  : 

"Throw  the  cursed  thing  in  the  fire,  if  you  have  it." 


318  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"And  beggar  you?"  she  cried;  "beggar  you?  All 
the  rest  is  bequeathed  to  you." 

I  almost  gasped  in  amazement. 

"He  flung  it  at  my  feet  in  a  rage,"  she  went  on,  "and 
took  the  train.  Then  he  became  paralysed  on  the  train, 
they  say.  No,  I  believe  he  was  lucid  for  a  day  or  two." 

I  sat  in  silence,  and  then  said  slowly : 

"Lillian,  if  you  have  this  will,  no  mortal  but  you  and 
me  shall  ever  know  of  it.  I  hope  you've  destroyed  it." 

"Never!  Oh,  we  poor  things  of  the  stage  are  bad 
enough,  God  pity  us !  with  never  an  hour  of  home  and 
every  man  on  earth  trying  to  pull  us  down — bad 
enough,  but  we're  not  so  cold-blooded  as  some  of  the 
social  queens  of  Fifth  Avenue.  We  have  hearts.  Yes, 
there's  our  curse." 

"Lillian,"  I  resumed,  "this  is  a  sorry  piece  of  news, 
but,  dear  old  girl,  I  never  in  God's  world  will  permit 
that  thing  to  come  to  light.  My  God,  what  would  I 
think  of  myself !" 

"But  it  shall  be  produced.  I'll  rob  no  creature  on 
this  earth.  I'll  not  rob  you,  Charles,  never  that.  Oh, 
Charles,  I've  been  struggling  with  this  a  month  or 
more.  Think  what  lives  we  women  lead  on  the  stage, 
to  conceal  such  feelings  as  I  had !  Oh,  if  you  could 
only  win  that  suit,  defeat  that  other  will  and  be  the 
heir  by  law,  how  easily  I  could  burn  that  piece  of 
paper!  I  thought  of  waiting — waiting  to  see  how  it 
would  come  out,  but  it  may  take  years,  and  why  should 
you  hope  to  break  the  thing?  What  if  I  should  have 
died  without  telling  you  ?  I  never  wronged  any  one  in 
my  life — except  myself,  and  there's  poor  father  loving 
the  ground  I  walk  on — what  will  he  say?  It  will  kill 
him,  kill  him,  and  he  so  sweetly  blind  to  everything." 


A   CONVERSATION  319 

So  great  was  her  misery  that  it  was  some  time  before 
I  could  compose  her  mind,  and  nearly  two  o'clock  be 
fore  I  left  her  with  a  voluntary  assurance  that  nobody 
should  hear  a  word  of  this,  and  that,  for  the  present, 
any  talk  of  disclosure  was  quite  unnecessary,  nor  was 
I  able  to  think  a  moment  of  my  own  advantage  at  the 
price  of  shame  to  her. 

Before  leaving  her  I  examined  in  her  room  the  mo 
mentous  document,  which  she  was  keeping  in  a  small 
safe  with  her  jewels.  Perusing  it  eagerly  but  atten 
tively,  I  was  left  not  the  slightest  reason  to  doubt  its 
genuineness,  for  it  was  written  from  first  to  last  in  his 
own  hand,  in  length  only  about  three  large  letter  sheets, 
and  concluding  with  legal  language,  as  well  as  properly 
witnessed.  As  to  the  witnesses  (and  Conners  was 
one),  it  would  not  follow  that  they  knew  its  contents, 
and  as  to  the  legal  form,  those  my  uncle  could  easily 
have  copied  from  his  earlier  will,  so  the  secret  was  yet 
probably  with  us  two,  considering  that  no  witness  or 
other  person  had  yet  referred  to  this. 

I  could  conceive  the  malicious  grin  of  the  bad  old 
man  as  he  placed  the  woman  in  temptation  between 
money  and  disgrace,  and  perhaps  insured  himself  the 
triumph  among  other  libertines  of  having  possessed  the 
beauty  of  the  town. 

Walking  home  at  three  in  the  morning,  I  mused  with 
conflicting  feelings  on  my  peculiar  fate  in  being  poor 
while  rich,  and  in  being  unable  to  take  possession  of 
what  belonged  to  me  without  becoming  little  better  than 
a  cur. 


CHAPTER  LXIV 
I    CONTEST    THE   WILL 

\17HEN  we  discover  in  a  friend  some  unexpected 
mark  of  declining  years  or  fortune,  we  lose  a 
degree  of  respect  for  him  and  also  a  little  of  our  inter 
est  in  him,  though  we  would  cut  our  tongues  out  rather 
than  admit  either  even  to  ourselves.  When  a  friend  loses 
his  youth,  we  are  sorry;  when  he  loses  his  fortune,  we 
are  very  sorry ;  when  he  loses  both,  we  are  very  sorry, 
indeed.  How  clearly  do  we  perceive  the  extent  of  his 
losses !  It  is  wonderful  how  quick  we  are  to  sniff  his 
decline,  wonderful  how  grieved  we  are  that  just  at  this 
inconvenient  season  it  is  so  difficult  to  spare  anything 
for  his  assistance. 

These  disagreeable  reflections  began  to  crowd  upon 
me  a  good  deal  when,  discovering  that  I  should  have 
to  turn  my  hand  to  something  speedily,  I  applied  to 
several  gay  acquaintances  to  keep  me  in  mind  for  a 
place.  I  found  myself  in  debt  to  two  or  three  banks, 
my  income  cut  off,  the  public  advised  of  my  loss  of  for 
tune,  and  the  world  rushing  on  with  its  affairs  as  if  I 
had  never  existed. 

The  Olcotts,  though,  remained  zealously  true.  With 
out  letting  me  know  it  beforehand,  the  generous  fellow 
discharged  my  debts  and  placed  in  bank  a  thousand 
dollars  to  my  credit,  after  which  we  betook  ourselves 

320 


I    CONTEST   THE   WILL          321 

to  considering  a  definite  plan  of  action.  Around  his 
table  with  his  good  wife,  who  insisted  that  one  of  those 
women  was  at  the  bottom  of  it  all,  we  tried  to  decide 
whether  it  were  better  to  renounce  the  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars  and  fight  for  the  greater  fortune. 

Such  a  question  being  not  easily  decided,  we  of 
course  repaired  to  a  firm  of  lawyers  in  New  York,  for 
those  in  Albany,  though  on  my  side,  did  not  seem  to 
be  positive.  It  is  human  nature  to  like,  even  in  advisers 
whom  we  desire  to  advise  us  coolly,  such  as  appear 
to  be  pretty  sure  we  are  right,  for  we  are  convinced 
by  arguments  that  we  like  to  hear,  and  hope  is  a  willing 
listener. 

The  learned  gentlemen  we  now  consulted,  after  ex 
pressing  the  profoundest  respect  for  my  Albany  coun 
sel,  and  telling  me,  what  I  already  knew,  that  it  was 
a  devilish  serious  case,  agreed  that,  if  they  could  get 
the  matter  into  the  Federal  court,  there  was  a  chance, 
while,  if  it  had  to  be  brought  in  the  State  courts,  there 
was  no  telling  which  way  it  would  be  decided.  This 
making  me  warm  for  the  Federal  tribunals,  I  soon  dis 
covered  that,  on  account  of  the  laudable  ingenuity  with 
which  they  were  constructed,  it  is  past  the  understand 
ing  of  the  best  lawyers  in  the  land  to  know  either  how 
to  get  in  or  how  to  get  out  of  them,  in  addition  to 
which,  so  fickle  is  their  sensitive  jurisdiction,  that 
many  persons,  after  having  a  cause  in  them  whole 
years,  are  suddenly  thrown  out  because  during  the  en 
tire  litigation  they  have  never  been  in  court  at  all.  We 
then  fell  to  discussing  the  State  judges,  among  whom 
our  senior  counsel  declared  old  Boggs  of  Albany  a 
really  great  jurist,  while  if  the  cause  should  ever  come 
before  a  certain  other,  whom  he  did  not  care  to  name, 


322  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

we  might  as  well  sell  our  rights  for  a  song  to  begin 
with. 

On  the  merits  neither  gentleman  was  in  a  hurry  to 
express  an  opinion.  It  might  be  a  forgery,  this  signa 
ture,  and  it  might  not  be.  One  thing  was  clear,  it  was 
a  clever  forgery,  if  any  at  all,  in  shutting  the  mouths 
of  all  the  servants  by  so  many  gifts,  in  conciliating  the 
courts  by  public  benefactions,  and  in  holding  out  to  me 
a  snug  sum  to  induce  surrender. 

They  promised  to  suggest  a  plan  of  attack  in  a  few 
days,  so  we  left  them  in  order  to  get  the  press,  or  a  part 
of  it,  at  once  on  our  side,  Olcott  declaring  that,  in  this 
age,  no  considerable  lawsuit  can  safely  be  left  to  the 
law.  Public  opinion  must  be  educated  at  once.  With 
this  in  view,  Olcott  immediately  gave  out  interviews 
to  journals  bitterly  hostile  to  the  Whirl,  directly  charg 
ing  the  whole  business  to  be  a  malicious  invention. 
These  communications  I  carefully  prepared  with  his 
aid,  but,  as  I  might  expose  myself  to  contradictions 
subsequently  on  the  stand,  if  I  should  now  have  much 
to  say  in  print,  I  declined  the  importunities  of  several 
reporters  to  give  them  an  interview  myself,  saying, 
with  much  dignity,  that  I  preferred  to  try  my  case  in 
the  courts,  and  would  have  been  glad  if  my  friend,  Mr. 
Olcott,  had,  despite  his  zeal,  remained  silent  for  the 
present. 

The  press  in  opposition  to  the  Whirl  now  became 
our  most  active  detectives.  Lie  after  lie  was  created  or 
refuted.  Maria  Dole  was  forthwith  hounded  by  re 
porters,  and  Maud  Start  connected  with  fifty  bad  af 
fairs. 

Encouraged  by  my  own  clamour,  I  now  formally 
began  the  attack.  Within  two  weeks  after  my  return 


I    CONTEST   THE   WILL          323 

from  Europe  I  filed  a  contest,  and,  receiving  no  offer 
of  compromise  from  the  other  side,  I  found  myself  con 
fronting  several  years  of  litigation  without  a  dollar  in 
my  pocket  or  any  calling  for  my  support. 

From  Senator  Baxom  I  received  the  most  cordial 
support,  by  which  I  mean  a  direct  offer  of  a  loan,  to 
gether  with  a  letter  to  Worryman.  Accepting  the  lat 
ter,  I  repaired  to  his  office,  where,  after  much  delay 
by  reason  of  his  being  often  away  and  the  rest  of  the 
time  hedged  by  millionaires,  I  finally  obtained  an  inter 
view. 

During  all  this  period  not  a  word  had  I  breathed 
either  to  Olcott  or  my  lawyers  of  what  I  had  learned 
from  Lillian — a  hard  struggle  at  times  in  not  revealing 
it  to  the  former.  To  keep  it  from  the  lawyers  was,  in 
a  sense,  easier,  as  the  penalty,  I  foresaw,  would  be 
their  insisting  on  making  it  known.  To  my  greater 
uneasiness  I  also  discovered  in  their  general  talk  about 
a  possible  new  will,  that  it  was  a  crime  to  keep  one  con 
cealed,  in  fact,  pretty  nearly  as  bad  as  to  forge  one. 
Was  I  "concealing,"  or  Lillian,  poor  creature,  or  both  ? 

These  reflections,  the  uncertainty  of  lawsuits,  a  real 
friendship  for  Lillian,  now  brought  me  gradually  to 
the  conclusion  that  I  would  withdraw  my  contest,  ac 
cept,  if  legally  I  now  could  get  it,  the  seventy-five  thou 
sand,  and  forego  my  hope  of  riches — a  hard  struggle  in 
my  mind,  as  the  reader  may  easily  imagine. 


CHAPTER  LXV 
THE   YOUNG   PRESIDENT 

my  first  meeting  with  Worryman  I  found  him 
in  his  inmost  office,  seated  in  a  chair,  around 
which,  at  work  on  various  parts  of  his  body,  were  a 
barber,  a  bootblack  and  a  manicure.  In  one  hand  he 
held  a  telephone  and  a  cigar,  while  telegrams  were 
spread  in  his  lap  or  were  held  in  readiness  by  one  of 
his  clerks,  from  all  which,  discerning  the  gentleman 
to  be  somewhat  engaged,  I  concluded  the  occasion  was 
little  to  my  purpose.  However,  he  quickly  nodded  to 
me  and,  assuring  me  he  must  be  in  Boston  without  a 
moment's  delay,  desired  I  should  come  again. 

Pleased  that  he  should  so  easily  recall  my  face,  I 
sought  him  two  days  later,  after  luncheon,  which  makes 
even  our  tyrants  of  finance  a  trifle  softer. 

"I  remember  you,  Mr.  Cameron,"  he  said,  without 
delay  in  coming  to  the  point,  "and,  as  you  state  you 
would  like  a  place  for  a  while,  I  think  I  can  accommo 
date  you  both  for  your  own  sake  and  that  of  Senator 
Baxom,  who  has  lately  sent  me  a  few  lines  in  your 
favour.  The  Senator  is  one  of  our  broadest  public 
men  and,  though  my  properties  have  reached  a  point 
where  we  care  little  or  nothing  as  to  what  they  do  at 
Washington,  I  like  to  oblige  him.  Now,  to  make  a 
short  story  of  it,  a  few  friends  of  mine  have  just  bought 
a  little  property  in  the  West,  a  small  one  of  about  one 

324 


THE   YOUNG   PRESIDENT        325 

thousand  miles,  and  need  a  confidential  man  during  at 
least  the  first  year  of  their  new  administration.  I  will 
give  you  a  note  to  Mr.  Bigbee,  the  gentleman  we  have 
made  president.  He'll  take  care  of  you  at  once.  Glad 
to  have  seen  you  again,  Mr.  Cameron." 

With  this,  calling  a  stenographer,  he  gave  me  a  note 
of  introduction  to  Bigbee,  a  few  cold  lines  which,  if 
they  were  to  be  read  by  Bigbee  as  they  sounded  when 
they  fell  f rom  Worryman,  would  make  my  appointment 
a  certainty.  Bigbee  I  found  that  afternoon.  To  reach 
this  pompous  numbskull  was  more  difficult  than  to  get 
at  his  great  superior,  for  he  was  merely  the  son  of  a 
multi-millionaire,  and  had  the  desire,  without  the  sense, 
to  figure  in  the  world  as  a  leader  of  business. 

It  was  fully  two  hours  that  he  required  for  his  lunch 
eon,  the  effect  of  which  was  to  make  him  vainer  and 
more  stupid  than  he  was  in  the  morning.  I  disliked 
him  immediately,  but  was  fairly  successful  in  conceal 
ing  what  I  felt. 

"Delighted  to  meet  you,  my  dear  young  man/'  he 
said ;  "a  friend  of  Senator  Baxom,  I  believe.  I  imagine 
those  public  men  have  a  lot  of  friends  on  their  hands 
in  this  way.  Ah !  Will  do  what  I  can  for  you,  though 
you  see  I  am  nearly  swamped  with  urgent  business." 

Here,  without  inviting  me  to  be  seated,  he  appeared 
to  become  lost  in  a  long  telegram  that  lay  before  him. 
Then,  as  if  recollecting  me,  he  murmured  a  shade  of 
apology,  was  lost  in  another  telegram,  and  finally 
begged  I  would  excuse  him  until  two  the  following  day. 

This  engagement  I  kept  in  a  very  ill  humour. 

"Ah,  yes,"  he  said.  "Had  almost  forgotten  you, 
Mr. — Mr. — Cameron,  wasn't  it?  Let  me  see,  yes, 
Cameron." 


326  A    NICE    YOUNG   MAN 

He  then  informed  me  he  would  make  me  one  of  his 
secretaries,  at  a  salary  of  three  thousand  a  year,  a  posi 
tion  that  called  for  services  to  himself  and  the  corpora 
tion  also. 

"What  we  want  in  our  young  men  nowadays,"  he 
continued,  "is  that  they  be  wide  awake.  They  must 
have  ideas.  I  desire  my  people  to  make  suggestions. 
Don't  be  afraid.  You  may  depend  upon  it,  I  shall 
know  how  to  sift  and  distinguish  the  ideas  that  come 
from  my  inferior  officers.  It  is  my  business  to  be  gen 
eral,  so  to  speak.  The  petty  details  must  be  looked  to 
and  submitted  to  me  in  various  forms,  so  that  I  can 
mold  a  general  policy.  I  haven't  the  least  notion  that 
one  idea  in  twenty  that  you  offer  will  be  worth  any 
thing,  of  course  not,  but  if  there  is  one  good  in  twenty, 
I  wish  to  hear  it:  so  don't  let  me  overawe  you.  Re 
member  that  you  are  here  to  think  every  moment  of  the 
day  and  that  your  thoughts  belong  to  me." 

With  this  he  lighted  a  cigarette  and  introduced  me 
to  his  principal  subordinate  in  another  department,  the 
vice-president,  and,  as  the  saying  is,  the  brains  of  the 
management,  but  by  no  means  a  rich  shareholder.  This 
person  was  a  type  of  the  cold-blooded  executives  whom 
it  is  the  fashion  for  millionaire  owners  to  put  in  charge 
of  large  concerns.  Such  servants  receive  tolerable  sal 
aries,  which  they  are  expected  to  multiply  infinitely  in 
dividends.  Compelled  to  make  profits  or  lose  their 
positions,  these  men  become  little  less  than  ruthless,  for 
where,  had  they  themselves  owned  the  properties,  they 
might  have  been  merciful  to  labourers,  creditors  or 
honest  rivals,  they  know  that  they  can  indulge  no  such 
tenderness  and  be  forgiven  by  directors.  Such  man- 


THE   YOUNG    PRESIDENT         327 

agers,  it  is  soon  decided,  are  not  practical  men,  not 
first-class  business  men. 

It  required  only  a  glance  for  this  vice-president  to 
see  that  I  was  not  a  whit  more  experienced  than  the 
president.  With  a  mere  monosyllable  or  two  he  in 
formed  me  I  should  have  to  look  largely  to  Mr.  Bigbee 
for  my  orders,  as  his  own  department  had  men  enough. 
A  desk  in  a  room  next  to>  the  president's  was  thereupon 
assigned  me.  I  was  very  glad  indeed  to  be  separated 
from  the  vice-president,  for  he  had  a  way  of  looking 
at  me,  particularly  at  my  legs,  a  somewhat  frowning 
and  inquiring  glance,  that  made  me  feel  uncomfor 
table,  as  it  was  plain  he  regarded  me  as  wholly  useless, 
and  that  he  had  nothing  more  than  a  little  curiosity 
as  to  what  a  creature  like  myself  was  good  for  or 
thought  about. 

Within  one  week  I  had  some  knowledge  of  what  was 
not  wanted  in  me,  but  to  this  day  I  have  no  idea  what 
was.  In  the  first  place,  I  discovered  the  utmost  jeal 
ousy  towards  me  among  several  other  young  men  simi 
larly  situated,  all  of  whom  regarded  me  as  an  intruder 
there  by  an  influence  not  useful  to  themselves,  for 
among  the  many  evils  yet  to  be  corrected  in  the  cor 
porate  form  of  modern  business,  there  is  this,  that  the 
distrust  between  officials  is  like  that  of  courtiers.  Every 
one  suspects  another  of  seeking  advancement  by  treach 
ery,  by  secret  criticism  or  slander.  The  least  favour 
shown  to  one  of  them  by  the  head  of  affairs  creates  a 
cabal  among  his  fellows,  and  let  one  be  wrongfully  ac 
cused  by  his  superiors,  the  others  are  afraid  or  unwill 
ing  to  assist  him  with  the  truth. 


CHAPTER  LXVI 
I  MAKE  MYSELF  USEFUL 

"PvURING  my  stay  in  this  business  my  employers 
~*  found  it  expedient  to  create  several  new  corpora 
tions,  in  which,  qualified  through  a  single  share  of 
stock,  I  was  in  each  case  made  a  temporary  director  or 
dummy  officer.  Occasionally  I  became  a  secretary  or 
assistant  secretary  without  the  slightest  authority, 
though  always  with  some  liability  to  the  public  or  the 
shareholders.  Nevertheless,  after  the  custom  of  young 
men  in  my  situation,  I  cheerfully  voted  on  questions  I 
did  not  understand  and  attested  acts  I  never  saw.  Nor 
did  I  fail  to  share  the  prejudices  of  my  superiors. 
When,  in  forming  a  new  company,  our  cautious  old 
sinners  would  choose  a  State  favourable  to  that  enter 
prise,  I  was  sure  to  grumble,  if  they  did,  at  legislation 
or  judicial  decisions.  New  York,  I  remember,  was  in 
very  bad  favour.  New  Jersey  could  no  longer  be 
trusted,  it  was  feared,  as  one  of  her  courts  had  gone 
so  far  as  to  intimate  that  a  stockholder  might  possibly 
be  liable  for  something  if  any  creditor  would  expend 
a  fortune  in  pursuing  him.  Nevada,  we  found,  had 
not  yet  been  corrupted  by  new-fangled  reforms,  no  cor 
poration  or  shareholder  under  its  laws  ever  having  been 
made  answerable  about  anything.  Nevada  was  fair. 
Nothing  seemed  more  unjust  to  us  than  the  curiosity 

328 


I   MAKE   MYSELF   USEFUL       329 

of  attorneys-general  and  prosecuting  officers  as  to 
whether  we  were  obeying  the  laws,  this  curiosity  being, 
it  was  plain,  a  downright  meddling  in  the  affairs  of  pri 
vate  gentlemen.  To  denounce  or  jeer  at  their  lawsuits 
had  long  been  the  practice  of  our  officers.  Indeed,  many 
young  fellows  like  myself  had  done  themselves  some 
good  by  cleverness  on  the  witness  stand  in  evading  the 
questions  of  counsel  for  the  State,  at  whose  failures  it 
was  our  habit  to  be  very  funny  over  our  pie  or  chops 
at  noon.  None  of  the  principal  officers  of  our  com 
panies  could  ever  be  haled  into  court,  their  fevers  or 
nervous  prostrations  seizing  them  in  so  timely  a  manner 
that  no  judge  on  earth  could  insist  upon  their  attending. 

This  behaviour  leaving  our  testimony  to  subordinates 
like  myself,  who  knew  nothing  worth  telling,  I  was 
rather  hurt  that  during  some  time  I  was  not  thought 
important  enough  to  be  given  a  chance  to  perjure  my 
self,  too.  However,  my  turn  finally  came. 

The  prosecuting  officer  assailing  me  with  a  rapid 
fire  of  questions  on  matters  with  which  I  was  plainly 
familiar,  I  grew  at  once  intelligently  ignorant.  The 
more  I  remembered,  the  more  I  forgot.  Our  counsel 
was  pleased.  I  was  earning  promotion,  though,  in 
point  of  fact,  I  delighted  in  the  thing  for  no  other  rea 
son  than  that  I  honestly  believed  this  was  none  of  the 
State's  business. 

Losing  his  temper,  the  State's  attorney  leaped  of  a 
sudden  from  examination  of  the  defendant  company's 
records  into  that  of  a  subsidiary  concern,  about  which 
I  speedily  saw  he  knew  nothing  at  all,  so  I  grew  very 
brisk  in  my  ignorance,  and  the  dialogue  ran  as  follows  : 

O.  You  are  the  assistant  secretary  of  this  corpora 
tion? 


330  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

A.  Which  corporation? 

Q.  This  one,  of  course.    The  Badville  &  Southern. 

A.  Which  Badville  &  Southern  ? 

Q.  Which  what!  (derisively). 

A.  Yes,  sir,  which? 

Q.  Kindly  abstain,  Mr.  Cameron,  from  the  repeti 
tion  of  that  word  which. 

A.  What  which? 

Q.  Now,  sir,  without  appealing  to  the  court  to  stop 
your 

Our  Counsel. — Now,  your  Honour,  we  respectfully 
protest  against  any  attempt  at  insulting  or  badgering 
this  witness. 

The  Court. — You  must  treat  the  witness  properly, 
Mr.  Quicksands.  Proceed. 

Q.  You  hear  the  court,  sir.  Are  you  the  assistant 
secretary  of  the  Badville  &  Southern  Railway  Com 
pany? 

A.  I  don't  know. 

Q.  Oh,  you  don't  know,  eh  ? 

A.  No.  You  don't  tell  me  which  company  you  mean. 
There  are  two  Badville  &  Southern  companies. 

Q.  What's  that?  (confused). 

A.  Two.  One  under  the  laws  of  Maine  and  the 
other  under  the  laws  of  New  Jersey. 

Q.  Oh,  ho!    I  see  (gaining  time). 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Very  good  indeed,  Mr.  Cameron. 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now,  sir,  are  you  the  assistant  secretary  ? 

A.  How  can  I  tell  you  unless  you  say  which  com 
pany  you  mean  ? 

Q.  Well,  of  either  of  them,  sir. 


I    MAKE   MYSELF   USEFUL       331 

A.  Yes,  sir,  of  one  of  them. 

Q.  Very  good ;  which  one  ? 

A.  I  don't  know. 

Q.  Oh,  you  don't  know  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Why,  pray,  Mr.  Cameron? 

A.  Because  they're  so  much  alike  I  can't  tell  them 
apart.  ( Merriment  in  court. ) 

Q.  Now,  sir,  is  that  all?  (angrily). 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  now,  are  they  not  utterly 
distinct  and  severally  responsible  concerns  ? 

A.  Why,  sir,  you  see,  the  Maine  company  owns  all 
the  stock  of  the  New  Jersey  company. 

Q.  Proceed. 

A.  But  the  New  Jersey  company  has  lent  the  Maine 
company  five  million  dollars  and  taken  the  Maine  com 
pany's  stock  as  collateral.  (More  laughter.) 

Q.  Proceed. 

A.  Then  both  companies  have  deposited  their  stocks 
with  voting  trustees,  who  have  issued  certificates  of 
trust,  and  all  the  directors  have  filed  resignations,  which 
are  suspended  for  the  present. 

Q.  Oh,  very  good,  but  the  corporate  organizations 
are  kept  distinct  ? 

A.  Distinct?  Why,  we  have  to  have  our  lawyers 
every  day  to  tell  us  which  is  which.  (Merriment  or 
dered  suppressed  by  the  court. ) 

Q.  But  you  hold  separate  meetings,  sir  ? 

A.  How  can  we  ?  Both  companies  are  in  the  hands 
of  receivers.  As  I  understand  it,  the  Federal  courts  in 
Maine  are  enjoining  the  stockholders  from  suits  in  New 


332  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Jersey  and  the  voting  trustees  have  seized  the  books  of 
both  corporations.  (Merriment  again.) 

Q.  (Very  red  in  the  face).  Now,  your  Honour,  I 
protest  against  the  manner  of  this  witness. 

The  Court. — No  matter,  Mr.  Quicksands,  this  ex 
amination  must  stop  for  another  reason.  The  court  re 
calls,  as  the  witness  states,  that  the  Badville  &  South 
ern  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Federal  court.  Its  receiver 
ship  must  be  respected  from  collateral  inquiry. 

Our  Counsel. — We  were  just  about  to  raise  that 
point,  your  Honour. 

The  Court. — Have  you  any  further  questions,  Mr. 
Quicksands  ? 

Mr.  Quicksands. — None,  your  Honour.  We  think 
the  examination  has  made  this  witness  very  clear. 

As  there  was  nothing  more  pleasing  to  our  own  law 
yer  than  to  see  the  laugh  turned  on  his  opponent,  I  was 
reported  by  them  in  a  very  flattering  way  to  my  princi 
pals,  who  assured  me  the  business  interests  of  the  coun 
try  would  be  safe  if  they  had  more  young  men  like  me. 


CHAPTER  LXVII 
WHY   I    LOST    MY   PLACE 

O  OME  time  after  this  event  my  president,  being  in 
^  conference  with  some  important  persons,  called 
me  to  the  room  for  some  information,  which  I  was  able 
to  give  very  promptly. 

"You  have  a  bright  young  man  here,"  remarked  one 
of  the  company,  a  prominent  shareholder. 

"Yes,  I  rather  flatter  myself,"  replied  my  chief,  "on 
a  little  judgment  in  selecting  these  people." 

This  remark  naturally  making  me  dislike  him  all  the 
more,  I  nevertheless  appeared  pleased  with  the  situa 
tion.  One  morning  he  came  rather  late,  with  a  head 
ache  such  as  we  commonly  perceive  in  gentlemen  hav 
ing  an  unusual  appreciation  of  the  drama,  in  which 
humour  he  complained  of  my  not  assisting  him  with 
suggestions  and  never  having  opened  my  mouth  volun 
tarily.  This  I  bore  in  mind  the  next  day  and  made  a 
suggestion  of  policy  in  the  presence,  very  improperly,  of 
some  strangers.  I  thought  I  should  have  my  head 
taken  off  at  once,  but  it  so  happened  I  was  mistaken  in 
my  idea  and  afforded  him  a  pretty  chance  to  set  me 
right  with  a  display  of  precise  information  on  the  de 
tails  of  the  railway,  besides  which  one  of  those  present 
declared  that  it  would  be  lucky  if  every  railway  had  a 
president  like  this. 

333 


334  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

It  is  a  principle  of  human  nature  that  we  dislike 
those  who,  with  a  view  to  do  us  a  favor,  accidentally 
do  us  an  injury,  and  that  we  do  not  dislike  those  who, 
with  a  view  to  injure  us,  happen  to  do  us  a  benefit.  My 
president  now  thought  better  of  me. 

"By  all  means,"  said  he,  "speak  out,  no  matter  who 
is  present — whenever,  I  mean,  there  seems  reasonable 
excuse  for  your  opinion  being  uttered.  Don't  be  afraid 
of  putting  me  at  a  disadvantage.  If  you  haven't  found 
out  by  this  time  that  I  am  able  to  take  care  of  myself, 
you're  not  worth  your  salary." 

This  pretty  talk  from  an  ass  little  older  than  myself, 
a  mere  puppet  as  I  knew  him  to  be,  was  sure  to  bring 
about  trouble,  and  so  it  fell  out.  In  the  third  week  of 
my  employment  there  came  into  the  office  no  less  a  per 
sonage  than  Worryman,  who  soon  called  for  papers  in 
my  care.  When  I  had  brought  these,  being  requested 
to  remain  to  aid  in  the  examination  of  them,  I  heard 
with  some  concern  a  statement  from  Bigbee  that  the 
earnings  of  a  branch  line  had  the  past  month  been  a 
certain  amount  quite  above  the  truth.  Upon  this  basis 
some  talk  was  had  between  the  great  men  which  I  saw 
was  leading  to  a  definite  action  and  was  sure  to  cause 
trouble,  as  they  were  about  to  answer  an  important 
telegram. 

"If  you  will  permit  me,"  I  said,  "I  think,  Mr.  Big- 
bee,  the  amount  is  quite  below  that." 

"Not  at  all,"  replied  he  cheerfully.  "Just  get  the 
report  and  see  for  yourself." 

Upon  which  he  continued  his  talk  a's  if  I  were  not  in 
existence.  Though  it  would  have  been  wiser  not  to 
expose  him,  I  took  pleasure  in  doing  so  by  laying  be 
fore  them  the  report. 


WHY   I    LOST    MY   PLACE        335 

'This  is  a  pretty  different  state  of  affairs,"  remarked 
Worryman,  with  a  frown.  "I'm  glad  this  young  man 
was  so  vigilant." 

Bigbee,  for  his  part,  endeavoured  to  twist  the  fig 
ures,  only  making  his  real  ignorance  of  the  whole  paper 
the  more  evident,  until  Worryman  finally  remarked : 

"No  matter,  Mr.  Bigbee;  but,  of  course,  data  of  this 
kind  will  probably  receive  your  careful  inspection." 

This  amounting  to  a  reproof  from  so  high  a  quar 
ter,  Worryman  was  no  sooner  out  of  the  door  than 
Bigbee  broke  forth  in  the  anger  of  wounded  vanity. 

"What  do  you  mean,  young  fellow,  by  meddling  in 
this  way?  Who  gave  you  authority  to  contradict  the 
president  of  this  company  ?" 

I  naturally  referred  to  his  love  of  suggestions  from 
wide-awake  young  men,  but  this  put  him  in  a  worse 
humour  than  ever,  as  he  declared  that,  after  trying  to 
prove  him  in  the  wrong  instead  of  setting  him  right  in 
private,  I  was  now  misquoting  him  in  an  endeavour  to 
defend  myself. 

"I  think,"  he  cried  finally,  "that  this  office  can  do 
without  your  valuable  services.  I  don't  care  to  have 
geniuses  in  my  employment.  You  needn't  return  to 


morrow." 


I  got  my  check  and,  leaving  the  office,  betook  myself 
to  a  large  restaurant,  where,  as  I  was  eating  a  bite  or 
two,  I  noticed  Maud  Start  and  Conners,  who  had  ap 
parently  finished  a  meal,  about  to  leave  the  place 
through  a  hall  at  the  other  end  of  the  room.  I  resolved 
to  follow  them. 

It  was  only  to  the  sidewalk,  for  there  they  separated, 
Maud  taking  a  cab,  while  she  left  behind  her  all  the 
perfumes  of  Araby  the  Blest.  Conners,  though  he  had 


336  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

a  drink  too  much,  recognised  me  a  moment  later,  grin 
ning  or  chuckling,  the  scoundrel,  as  he  saw  that  I  was 
eager  to  talk  with  him. 

"You're  Conners  now,  I  suppose  ?"  said  I,  by  way 
of  pleasantry. 

"I  don't  know  as  I  ever  denied  my  name,  sir.  Least 
wise,  I've  never  been  passing  under  an  assumed  one," 
a  happy  retort,  assuredly,  in  view  of  my  behaviour  at 
Columbus. 

As  serving  people  do  not  easily  get  over  an  awe  of 
their  superiors,  and  as  he  saw  I  was  in  the  humour  to 
thrash  him,  he  let  me  push  or  lead  him  into  the  vesti 
bule  of  some  great  building,  becoming,  besides,  a  trifle 
more  respectful.  In  my  heat  I  forgot  about  the  danger 
to  Lillian  as  I  broke  out : 

"You  damned  scoundrel,  you  know  that  the  will 
Maria  Dole  and  Maud  Start  are  claiming  under  is  not 
the  last  he  made." 

Uneasy  though  he  became,  he  made  a  safe  reply. 

"If  my  name,  sir,  is  witness  to  any  other  will,  not 
knowing  as  it  is,  I  suppose  them  as  has  it  will  not  fail 
to  produce  it.  I  haven't  any  such  will,  sir.  Maybe, 
sir,  you  know  of  one  ?  I  believe  it's  against  law  to  hide 
one,  sir." 

What  reply  could  I  make  but  to  turn  on  my  heel  and 
leave  him?  The  fellow,  I  saw,  was  well  paid  by  the 
others  for  his  silence.  He  probably  knew  that  the  paper 
he  had  signed  as  a  witness,  the  one  in  Lillian's  posses 
sion,  was  a  will,  but  at  the  same  time  had  probably  not 
been  permitted  by  my  uncle  to  see  its  contents.  From 
his  point  of  view,  accordingly,  it  was  profitable  to  bleed 
the  devisees  under  the  earlier  testament. 


CHAPTER  LXVIII 
WHICH    IS    VERY    SHORT 

"\17HEN  I  reported  to  Olcott  my  early  discharge,  he 
agreed  with  me  it  was  no  great  loss,  adding  that 
it  were  just  as  well  should  I  take  no  other  occupation 
for  the  present  than  that  of  looking  to  my  own  lawsuit. 
This  condition,  however,  I  was  unwilling  to  fall  into, 
as  I  was  so  much  in  need  of  money  that  I  should  have 
had  to  become  in  a  degree  dependent  upon  him  until 
the  event  of  the  case,  which  might  be  against  me;  so, 
notwithstanding  he  was  in  ample  funds  at  this  period, 
I  preferred  to  earn  salary  at  once. 

Moreover,  we  had  at  work  several  detectives,  for 
whose  mysterious  expenses  the  only  resource  was  Ol- 
cott's  pocket,  this  item  already  bearing  heavily  enough, 
considering  that  all  we  appeared  to  get  in  return  were 
wise  suspicions  and  knowing  looks.  Their  progress,  in 
fact,  seemed  so  slow  that  we  even  felt  obliged  to  hire 
another  set  of  detectives  to  spy  upon  these.  As  for 
my  lawyers,  they  were  engaged  upon  a  contingent  fee 
of  one-fourth  of  my  recovery,  a  plan  that  suited  my 
purse  exceedingly  well,  besides  furnishing  them  appar 
ently  an  inducement  to  exertion. 

From  Betty  I  had  now  several  long  communications, 
which  I  hastened  to  acknowledge  in  no  doubtful  length 
or  warmth,  for  love,  like  friendship,  is  doubly  sweet  in 

337 


338  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

adversity.  Our  letters  passed  through  Mrs.  Egerton. 
I  would  assure  Betty  that,  nothing  would  overcome  my 
energy  in  asserting  my  rights,  and  Betty  would  reply 
that  there  was  nothing  on  earth  that  could.  Then  she 
would  report  the  varying  stages  of  her  parents'  humour 
toward  me,  as,  without  admitting  a  betrothal,  she  ad 
vised  them  with  gentle  firmness  she  would  neither  love, 
nor  wed,  another  than  me.  Flowers  from  the  Riviera 
would  come  pressed  in  the  envelopes,  lending  their  ex 
piring  odours  to  her  photographs. 

Thus  passed  several  weeks  that  led  us  through  the 
winter,  during  which  period  the  Baxoms  remembered 
me  well.  The  Senator  gave  me  notes  of  introduction 
to  several  people,  who,  he  thought,  could  offer  me 
good  place,  for  he  was  not  in  the  least  disturbed  by 
my  break  with  Bigbee.  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  found  it 
harder  to  keep  than  to  get  employment.  For  instance, 
through  some  New  York  friends  I  found  a  place  under 
a  retired  business  man,  who  was  giving  his  whole  time 
to  schemes  of  public  benefit.  A  more  honourable  man 
than  this  I  never  knew,  but  such  was  his  austerity  of 
virtue,  united  with  unusual  pride  of  birth,  that  he  ap 
peared  the  coldest  of  men,  while,  in  fact,  he  was  dis 
charging  his  useful  tasks  from  an  intellectual  convic 
tion  of  duty  or  from  a  good  will  towards  society  with 
out  capacity  for  emotion  towards  an  individual.  With 
in  three  weeks  I  felt  so  repelled  by  his  coldness  that 
1  began  to  look  about  me  for  some  occupation  more 
congenial,  when,  being  in  Washington  on  another  er 
rand,  I  learned  from  Senator  Baxom  that  he  had  need 
of  me  in  a  scheme  in  Virginia. 


CHAPTER  LXIX 
THE    SENATOR   EMPLOYS    ME 


likes  a  pleasant  thief  better  than  the  most  vir- 
tuous  man  in  the  world  with  a  scornful  air.  I 
was  glad  to  leave  my  New  York  employer  for  service 
to  the  Senator.  As  to  the  latter,  it  would  be  unjust  to 
imply  that  he  was  a  downright  dishonest  man,  for, 
while  I  could  not  approve  of  many  things  he  did,  I  felt 
he  at  least  did  nothing  in  violation  of  his  conscience 
and  that  he  pursued  the  methods  which  our  business 
men,  after  a  poor  standard  of  morals,  agreed  to  call 
fair  dealing. 

Of  the  virtuous  man  I  left  behind,  the  Senator,  at 
first  declaring  him  to  be  an  infernal  old  hypocrite,  re 
marked  that  that  family  had  stolen  so  much  it  probably 
felt  now  that  it  could  afford  to  be  honest.  This,  though, 
he  qualified  by  saying  that  perhaps  it  was  not  fair  to 
be  so  hard  on  one  who  seemed  to  be  doing  good,  so  he 
would  not  set  himself  up  as  a  judge. 

"However,  I  will  say,"  he  concluded,  "that  if  this 
country  were  made  up  of  business  men  of  that  type, 
grass  would  be  growing  in  the  middle  of  Broadway. 
What  a  young  country  needs  is  action.  We  can't  stop 
to  get  authority  from  the  Bible  every  time  we  have  to 
interpret  a  contract  or  reorganise  a  corporation." 

Then  he  mused  a  moment  and  added  : 

339 


340  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

''Cameron,  there  are  plenty  of  Christians  in  this 
country,  but  you'll  find  mighty  few  of  them  in  busi 
ness." 

He  then  explained  to  me  that  what  I  was  to  do  in 
Virginia  was  to  trace  and  purchase  several  lots  of  stock 
in  two  or  three  coal  companies,  which  it  was  designed 
to  amalgamate.  Such  a  proceeding  required  the  assent 
of  every  share,  unless,  by  ruining  the  companies  in 
bankruptcy  or  receivership,  title  could  be  gotten  by 
forced  sale.  At  first  his  syndicate,  having  a  controlling 
interest,  had  so  starved  the  properties  as  to  reduce  them 
from  dividends  to  deficits,  and  in  this  way  had  made 
nearly  all  the  outstanding  shareholders  capitulate  at  a 
low  price.  Nevertheless,  there  remained  several  who, 
as  the  Senator  expressed  it,  were  still  unreasonable. 
These  it  was  too  expensive  to  cut  off  by  judicial  sales, 
so  it  was  necessary  to  buy  their  shares,  and  this  I  must 
accomplish  in  a  leisurely  way  by  falling  in  with  the 
owners,  as  it  were,  by  chance.  I  must  be  merely  a 
young  Northern  traveller,  a  student  of  Southern  life, 
who  happened  to  notice  these  mines  and  to  take  a  fancy 
to  a  little  stock.  Accordingly,  he  and  his  friends  having 
given  me  all  necessary  information  about  the  com 
panies  to  enable  me  to  discuss  the  values  intelligently, 
I  set  out  to  the  interior  of  Virginia.  The  real  value  of 
the  shares  my  principals  pleasantly  declined  to  tell  me, 
saying  that  the  poorer  I  thought  the  shares  the  more 
conscientiously  I  could  persuade  the  owners  to  sell  them 
for  a  song. 

Before  going  to  Virginia  I  spent  a  day  or  two  in 
New  York,  where  I  found  my  lawsuit  receiving  as 
much  attention  as  I  had  any  right  to  expect  from  emi 
nent  counsel.  The  trial,  it  was  clear,  would  occur  in  the 


THE  SENATOR  EMPLOYS  ME  341 

spring,  say  about  May,  before  which  time  it  was  be 
lieved  we  should  receive  an  offer  of  settlement  from  the 
other  side.  The  detectives  had  at  length  been  able  to 
get  some  of  the  secrets  of  Maud  Start,  through  an 
emissary,  who  had  required  two  months  to  gain  a  little 
of  her  confidence.  The  hints  received  were  not  satis 
factory,  to  be  sure,  but  they  indicated  a  great  deal,  and, 
what  was  now  hoped  was  that  these  conspirators,  as 
we  deemed  them,  would  fall  to  quarreling  with  each 
other  over  the  spoils.  Neither  Olcott  nor  I  was  willing 
to  accept  this  entirely,  though  we  could  not  refrain 
from  further  hope. 

A  letter  from  Betty  at  this  juncture  depressed  me 
much,  since  it  became  clear  her  life  was  no  longer  a 
happy  one  with  her  parents,  who  began  to  disclose  a 
pretty  firm  determination  to  make  her  marry  Catesby. 
I  was  quite  miserable  about  this,  bitterly  regretting  I 
had  not  induced  her  to  elope  with  me  when  I  had  her. 
As  it  was,  I  sent  her  a  cablegram  of  hope,  wrote  her  a 
letter  of  endless  length,  and  hurried  to  Virginia  in  the 
belief  that  if  I  accomplished  this  business  well  for  the 
Senator,  I  should  be  put  in  a  permanent  place,  where, 
let  the  worst  come  of  my  lawsuit,  I  could  support  Betty 
in  decency.  Fired  with  this  hope,  I  dispatched  her  an 
other  letter — this  from  Washington — telling  "her  to 
cable  a  reply  in  care  of  the  Senator,  and  I  would  marry 
her  at  the  dock  if  she  should  return  to  our  native  land. 

To  my  pleasure  I  met  Colonel  Evanson  in  Wash 
ington  before  my  departure  for  the  South. 

"I  trust  you've  seen  Miss  Lily  recently,  Mr.  Cam 
eron,"  said  he;  "the  finest  girl  in  the  world,  suh,  and 
the  loveliest." 

I  assured  him  I  had. 


342  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Both  my  sons  being  gone,  she's  the  greatest  comfort 
in  the  world.  Yes,  suh,  the  greatest ;  a  letter  from  her 
nearly  every  day,  in  spite  of  all  that  professional  work 
and  worry.  She  had  to  leave  us  pretty  young,  but,  suh, 
such  a  daughter !" 

"Let  us  quietly  drink  her  dear  health,  Colonel,  in  the 
family,  so  to  speak,"  I  replied,  and  we  very  respect 
fully  (the  old  man  almost  reverently)  did  so  at  a  quiet 
table  in  a  neighbouring  restaurant. 

"Both  the  boys,  you  understand,  suh/'  he  remarked, 
"went  to  the  West.  There's  a  diminishing  future  in 
the  South ;  our  bright  lads  run  up  North  or  out  West. 
They're  silently  getting  away  from  this  nigger  prob 
lem  or  nigger  civilisation.  The  time's  coming,  suh, 
when  nigger  belles  and  beaux  will  have  a  society  col 
umn  in  the  newspapers,  their  own  or  ours,  and  take 
trips  to  Europe — not  soon,  you  know,  but  some  day, 
and  I  don't  know,  suh,  any  white  man  in  the  North 
would  like  to  live  under  those  conditions  when  just  ex 
actly  every  second  face  you  meet  is  black." 

"I  suppose  we  don't  notice  this  thing  yet  in  so  large 
a  place  as  New  York,"  I  remarked. 

"Of  course  not,"  continued  he.  "But  the  greater 
part,  suh,  of  any  country  is  its  small  towns  and  villages. 
Now,  suh,  suppose  you  lived  in  a  town  of  ten  thousand 
people  and  the  richest  man  in  it  was  a  nigger  and  a 
banker,  too.  How'd  you  like  to  borrow?  Every  gen 
tleman  has  to  borrow,  of  course.  Or,  suppose  you 
weren't  a  gentleman,  suh,  and  only  kept  a  store.  How'd 
you  like  to  borrow  from  a  nigger? 

"Now,  suh,"  he  went  on,  "I  know  you'd  feel  like 
killing  the  nigger,  of  course,  but  I  hardly  think  myself 
we'd  be  justified  in  killing  him  for  being  a  banker — not 


THE  SENATOR  EMPLOYS  ME  343 

exactly.  The  fact  is,  I  don't  feel  unkindly,  Mr.  Cam 
eron,  towards  those  poor  creatures.  None  of  us  do. 
Why,  suh,  I  risked  my  life  once  to  save  a  nigger's,  and 
would  do  it  again,  in  a  minute,  suh.  I'm  glad  you're 
going  down  there  on  this  little  trip,  Mr.  Cameron.  I'm 
going  down  to  Richmond  myself.  Keep  you  company, 
suh.  There's  a  great  question  of  existence  to  be  settled 
there,  suh.  Some  very  fine  people  are  simply  drifting 
North  or  West." 

As  I  left  him  he  smiled  and  said : 

"Miss  Lily  assures  me,  suh,  you've  been  a  great  com 
fort  to  her  in  many  ways.  An  old  man  is  at  your  ser 
vice,  Mr.  Cameron,  a  little  old,  but  mighty  willing,  I 
assure  you." 

I  thanked  him  cordially. 

"A  world  of  temptation  to  set  a  girl  down  in,  that 
life  up  there  in  New  York,  but,  suh,  she  doesn't  even 
know  it's  there.  Just  like  a  baby,  Mr.  Cameron !  Ah, 
she's  her  mother's  girl !" 

At  this  the  old  man  silently  raised  his  glass  in  toast 
to  the  wife  that  was. 

"I  suppose  I'm  an  old  fool,  Mr.  Cameron,  to  be  talk 
ing  this  way.  I  trust  other  gentlemen  have  dutiful 
daughters.  As  to  her  acting,  fortunately,  suh,  the 
world  has  settled  that  question  for  me,  soi  I'm  permit 
ted  to  be  proud.  Yes,  suh,  they  tell  me  Miss  Lily's  the 
greatest  actress  that  ever  spoke  the  English  language. 
It's  not  for  me  to  say,  Mr.  Cameron,  not  for  me  to 
say." 


CHAPTER  LXX 
COLONEL   EVANSON'S   VIEWS 

'"THE  white  men  of  our  Southern  States  constitute  a 
part  of  our  race  unsurpassed  in  personal  courage, 
the  women,  the  fairest  of  their  sex.  To  the  courage  of 
the  former  are  added  honesty  and  love  of  truth ;  to  the 
beauty  of  the  latter,  chastity,  loyalty  and  sweetness  of 
temper.  These  virtues  are  most  of  them  old  enough 
among  that  people,  but  the  melancholy  reverses  of  war 
have  made  them,  during  a  generation  not  yet  passed 
away,  clearer  by  adversity.  That  these  people  greatly 
resemble  the  Irish  is  too  plain  to  escape  observation. 
Here  we  find  a  Celtic  indifference  to  money,  a  willing 
ness  to  stake  everything  on  sentiment,  a  cheerful  hu 
mour  in  poverty. 

More  terrible  than  devastating  armies  is  that  silent 
conflict  of  races  now  begun  in  those  fair  States.  This 
conflict,  so  little  understood  elsewhere,  must  suffer  its 
true  principle  to  be  revealed  before  justice  can  be  done 
the  Southern  people  by  those  of  us  who  dwell  in  the 
magnificent  Commonwealths  of  the  North. 

In  this  momentous  question  there  are  two  errors  into 
which  we  are  very  willing  to  fall — one,  that  the  negroes 
have  been  reasonable  enough  to  die  so  rapidly  that  they 
have  not  gained  in  numbers  upon  the  Southern  whites ; 
the  other,  that  the  trouble  will  gradually  cure  itself  by 
the  education  and  even  the  opulence  of  the  negroes. 

344 


COLONEL   EVANSON'S   VIEWS    345 

Both  suppositions  are  grossly  wrong.  The  negroes 
have  gained  prodigiously  in  numbers,  and,  let  them 
become  educated  or  opulent,  the  white  man's  position 
becomes  utterly  intolerable. 

During  our  ride  to  Richmond  I  often  made  observa 
tions  to  the  Colonel  on  the  negroes,  whose  habitations, 
squalid  enough,  could  frequently  be  seen  from  the 
train,  but  his  replies  were  commonly  monosyllables,  a 
circumstance  at  which  I  wondered  a  little,  since  the 
good  gentleman  was  generally  communicative.  It  be 
ing  evening  when  we  arrived,  and  neither  of  us  being 
able  to  perform  our  errands  until  the  next  day,  we 
passed  several  hours  in  walking  and  driving  in  the 
streets  and  over  the  hills  of  this  very  pleasant  city. 
Swarms  of  blacks  in  various  degrees  of  poverty  or 
thrift  crowded  the  streets. 

"The  negroes  are  exceedingly  numerous,  Colonel." 

"Yes,  suh,  yes,  suh." 

"Are  they  as  common  in  the  Carolinas  ?" 

"Yes,  suh." 

"Every  other  face  you  meet  there  is  black  ?" 

"Thick  as  flies,  suh." 

"It  seems  strange,  Colonel,  when  one  stops  to  think 
of  it,  that  there  should  be  such  a  multitude  of  these 
people,  apparently  as  many  as  the  whites,  when  the  im 
portation  of  them  was  stopped  nearly  a  century  ago. 
They  must  breed  like  rabbits." 

"You're  thinking  a  little,  suh,  I  see,"  replied  the 
Colonel,  "but,  bless  your  soul,  suh,  I've  just  been  keep 
ing  quiet.  I  don't  like  to  press  my  views  in  a  sectional 
question  on  a  visiting  gentleman  from  the  North.  It's 
not  altogether  hospitable,  Mr.  Cameron." 

I  assured  him  nothing  could  be  taken  amiss  by  me 


346  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

on  a  subject  in  which  I  felt  as  impartial  as  any  man 
on  earth. 

"Mr.  Cameron,  suh,"  said  he,  as  we  drove  along, 
"the  multiplication  of  the  niggers  is  appalling.  People 
talk  about  their  rapid  death  rate.  Yes,  suh,  but  their 
birth  rate  is  so  much  greater  than  ours  that  the  black 
rascals  more  than  make  up  the  difference.  I'm  not 
much  of  a  hand  at  statistics,  suh,  but  I  just  thought  I'd 
look  at  the  figures  in  a  cyclopaedia  or  two — some 
tables  from  the  Government's  official  census — North 
ern  work,  suh,  every  bit  of  it,  I  reckon.  Now,  suh,  I 
find  that  the  nigger  is  about  as  great  a  fraction  of  the 
total  population  of  these  United  States  to-day  as  he 
was  forty  years  ago." 

"Well,  then,  he's  not  gaining,"  I  remarked,  rather 
stupidly,  as  it  resulted. 

"Yes,  suh.  You've  missed  it,  pardon  me,  just  as 
every  one  else  does.  He's  gaining." 

"But  how,  on  those  figures  ?" 

Mr.  Cameron,  in  the  last  forty  years  how  many 
millions  of  immigration  have  the  white  people  had  from 
Europe?" 

"Ah,  I  see,  Colonel." 

"Yes,  suh,  millions,  and  first-class  breeders,  too. 
About  fifteen  millions,  suh." 

I  fell  to  thinking,  and  the  Colonel  proceeded : 

"Why,  Mr.  Cameron,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  that  im 
migration,  suh,  the  nigger  would  have  jumped  from  a 
ninth  to  a  sixth  or  a  seventh.  Remember,  suh,  these 
immigrants  have  been  great  breeders,  so  you  have  not 
only  them  but  their  descendents  in  the  present  popula 
tion.  Now,  suh,  just  imagine  what  would  be  the  record 
if  we'd  never  had  them." 


COLONEL    EVANSON'S    VIEWS    34? 

"And  in  the  South  you've  not  had  any  of  the  immi 
gration  ?" 

"No,  suh,"  he  answered  sadly.  "There's  the  fate 
of  the  South,  its  fate,  suh,  its  doom.  We've  had  no 
immigration.  We've  suffered  the  entire  nigger  gain." 

"Why  don't  you  encourage  immigration  ?" 

"Useless,  Mr.  Cameron.  White  labour  won't  come 
here,  suh.  Useless." 

"But,  Colonel,  the  great  intellectual  superiority  of 
your  people " 

"Pardon  me,  suh,  I  understand.  Yes,  suh,  for  a 
long  time  we'll  control,  suh;  we'll  have  the  business 
and  political  management  of  affairs.  But  that  can't 
last  always,  suh.  There  must  come  a  time  when  these 
black  people  are  going  to  have  wealth  and  some  of  them 
intellect.  Some  of  our  people  won't  listen  to  the  possi 
bility  of  intellect  in  a  nigger,  but  it'll  come  by  degrees, 
suh,  along  with  property." 

"Well,  then,  you  have  a  good  condition  of  things — 
orderly  population  and " 

"Ah,  you  never  catch  the  point,  you  Northerners. 
Mr.  Cameron,  you've  been  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  I  be 
lieve.  Now,  suh,  you've  seen  those  Chinese  and  some 
Japanese — a  mighty  shrewd  lot,  I  believe.  How'd  you 
like  to  live  in  a  town  that  was  one-half  Chinese,  and 
the  Chinese  doing  one-half  the  banking,  keeping  one- 
half  the  shops,  running  one-half  the  hotels,  yes,  suh, 
and  filling  one-half  the  city's  offices  ?  How'd  you  like 
a  Chinese  mayor?  Why,  suh,  after  concluding  that 
the  thing  was  inevitable,  after  seeing  that  their  num 
bers  and  wealth  have  rights,  you'd  pack  your  trunk, 
suh,  and  leave  that  town.  Of  course  you  would,  if  you 
had  ladies  in  your  family.  There'd  be  Chinese  police- 


348  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

men.  Maybe  the  principal  theatre  would  be  run  by  a 
Chinaman.  Would  you  take  ladies  there  ?" 

"Why  not  two  theatres,  two  restaurants,  and  the  like, 
one  for  each  race?" 

"Impracticable,  Mr.  Cameron.  A  city  doesn't  pro 
gress  that  has  to  divide  things  that  way.  Let's  see, 
suh.  All  the  whites  would  patronize  one  bank,  all  the 
niggers  another.  Each  side  intrigues  to  help  its  own 
colour.  Trade  jealousies  would  be  terrible.  But,  suh, 
over  all  is  this :  You  wouldn't  think  you  had  dignity 
as  a  white  man  in  a  town  that  had  for  its  principal 
banker  or  merchant  or  for  its  mayor  a  Chinaman 
backed  by  thousands  of  aggressive  Chinamen.  No, 
suh,  you'd  leave  that  town.  You  wouldn't  reason  much. 
You'd  just  feel  uncomfortable  and  get  out." 

"Then  the  negro's  advance  in  wealth  or  ele 
gance " 

"Is,  suh,  the  intolerable  part  of  it.  I  don't  know, 
suh,  what  the  abstract  right  or  wTrong  of  this  thing  is, 
but  I  simply  say,  Mr.  Cameron,  no  white  man,  North 
or  South,  would  be  a  contented  person  where  one-half 
the  people  in  his  town  were  niggers,  wore  fine  clothes, 
or  filled  half  the  seats  in  a  theatre.  You  can't  reason 
about  these  things.  No,  suh,  let  two  rich  niggers  rent 
houses  on  Fifth  Avenue  or  Beacon  Street  on  either 
side  of  any  Northern  gentleman  on  earth,  and  he  sells 
his  house  in  twenty-four  hours.  If  a  Southern  man, 
he'd  say,  These  damned  niggers  are  growing  too  thick 
here  for  me.'  If  a  Northern  man,  'Somehow,  I  don't 
like  this  neighbourhood  any  more." 

"But  is  the  negro  gain  so  great?" 

"About  the  time  of  George  Washington's  death,  suh, 
we  whites  were  three  to  one.  Now  we're  only  a  half. 


COLONEL   EVANSON'S   VIEWS   349 

In  some  States  we're  outnumbered ;  yes,  outnumbered. 
Now,  suh,  whatever  immigration  there's  been  has  been 
white.  You  can  judge  for  yourself  as  to  niggers' 
breeding." 

"But  what's  the  end  of  it  all?" 

The  Colonel  was  silent. 

"Mr.  Cameron,"  said  he,  "we  Southerners  don't 
generally  admit  it,  but  ultimately  this  is  a  black  man's 
region.  We'll  rule  'em  with  an  iron  hand,  finally  get 
tired  out  of  it,  and  retire  before  the  black  tide  instead 
of  trying  to  sweep  it  back  with  a  broom." 

"People  here  don't  commonly  talk  in  this  way  ?" 

"No,  suh,  it's  hard  on  our  pride  and  bad  for  prop 
erty,  but  I  tell  you,  Mr.  Cameron,  it's  in  every  South 
ern  breast.  We're  thinking  a  heap,  suh.  It  makes  us 
hard  to  understand." 

"And  what " 

"Damn  me,  Mr.  Cameron,  I  can't  discuss  this  thing 
any  more.  No  suh,  pardon  me,  it's  a  gloomy  picture, 
gloomy  picture." 

He  was  silent  for  a  time,  during  which  he  puffed  at 
his  cigar  impatiently.  Then  he  concluded : 

"Mr.  Cameron,  suppose  you  were  a  successful  young 
lawyer  in  a  medium-sized  Southern  city,  or  suppose 
you  were  a  prosperous  merchant  there,  suh,  and  visiting 
capitalists  coming  from  the  North  or  England  wished 
to  make  a  large  investment  in  street  railways,  gas  con 
cerns  or  the  like,  and  suppose  they  finding  that  a  rich 
nigger,  full  of  ability,  had  lots  of  influence,  they  con 
sulted  him  and  passed  you  by  or  had  little  to  say  to 
you.  Would  you  like  that  town  any  more,  suh  ?  Would 
you  feel  you  had  any  real  dignity  or  your  town  dig 
nity,  either  ?  Now,  suh,  to  express  it  in  a  nutshell,  our 


350  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

bright  young  men  are  seeing  this.  They  are  leaving  us, 
suh,  gradually,  silently,  not  because  the  nigger  has  got 
yet  to  this  position,  but  because,  first,  the  big  nigger 
population  is  a  dead  weight  until  it  is  rich  and  edu 
cated,  and  second,  because,  after  it  is  rich  and  educated, 
it  takes  all  the  dignity  and  half  the  influence  away  from 
the  white  man.  It's  irreconcilable,  this  friction,  Mr. 
Cameron.  It's  in  our  race  and  yours.  There's  no  logic 
about  it." 

Put  together  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
Alabama,  Georgia,  South  Carolina  and  Florida,  and 
you  will  discover  that  the  negroes  are  a  majority  al 
ready  of  all  the  population.  Is  not  one  hundred  years 
a  fair  test?  Take  any  decade  in  their  history  and  see 
the  increase  of  negroes.  Here  is  a  region  larger  than 
France.  In  this  region  the  two  races  have  been  left 
to  themselves.  Whatever  contributions  of  population 
have  come  from  the  outside  have  come  to  the  whites, 
not  to  the  blacks  in  any  degree  worth  mentioning. 

But  what  is  to  be  the  result?  The  whites  will  dis 
appear.  Their  birth  rate  under  the  influence  of  ad 
verse  conditions  will  decline.  Gradually  they  will 
abandon  the  soil.  This  is  the  singular,  the  extraordi 
nary  solution  of  that  strange  problem.  What!  it  is 
cried,  he  who  prophecies  this  knows  nothing  of  the 
Southern  spirit.  Never  will  the  white  man  yield  to 
the  black ! 

That  the  whites  have  the  spirit  to  dominate,  and  the 
courage  to  rule  or  die,  is  plain  to  the  most  casual  ob 
server  of  that  fine  people.  Such  domination  must, 
however,  he  maintained  by  force.  The  force  required 
to  maintain  it  must,  in  turn,  be  greater  as  the  numbers 


COLONEL   EVANSON'S   VIEWS    351 

to  be  dominated  either  increase,  or,  by  reason  of  edu 
cation  itself,  more  generally  aspire. 

At  last  the  white  man  will  weary  of  a  strife  in  which, 
while  he  has  the  undoubted  courage  to  prevail,  he  per 
ceives  the  futility  of  contention.  The  rival  race  breeds 
unceasingly.  No  relief  comes  by  immigration,  or  if 
any  comes,  it  may  be  from  races  that  are  willing  to 
marry  the  blacks  and  thus  increase  them.  In  other 
regions  within  our  own  country  the  white  man  with 
his  children  may  have  peace. 

At  first  only  a  few  will  retreat,  but,  as  each  lessen 
ing  makes  the  position  of  the  remainder  less  hopeful, 
the  stream  will  gain  in  volume.  Then  will  the  North 
and  West  prescribe  to  the  blacks  the  boundaries  of  set 
tlement,  and  by  unwritten  law  a  certain  parallel  of  lati 
tude  must  not  be  passed.  Then  will  be  arrested  by  the 
anxious  North  that  black  tide,  which  already  has 
crossed  the  Ohio,  which  has  crept  toward  'Columbus, 
and  which  has  discoloured  the  whole  southern  portions 
of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois. 

Extraordinary  result!  Hateful,  intolerable  conse 
quence!  No  Southern  man  will  openly  admit  so  sad 
a  thing.  No  Southern  editor,  no  leader  of  expression 
or  opinion  among  that  high-spirited  race,  our  noble 
brothers  in  so  much  adversity,  will  yet  admit  what 
often  in  the  depth  of  his  heart  he  feels  is  the  sad  end  of 
it  all.  Every  acre  of  land  and  every  piece  of  property 
in  the  South  must  decline  in  value  should  such  a  possi 
bility  be  conceded.  It  will  be  scouted  now,  but  another 
age  will  see  the  inevitable  change. 

Where  now  are  the  whites  of  salubrious  Jamaica  or 
of  Haiti  and  the  other  West  Indies  ?  Already  the  de 
sertion  of  the  South  by  white  men  has  begun,  though 


352  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

in  streams  as  yet  too  small  to  be  noticed.  You  may  see 
it  in  the  West,  in  some  of  the  Middle  States,  and  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.  The  genial  climate,  the  more  genial 
manners  of  the  South,  are  left  behind  by  thoughtful 
men,  who  do  not  hesitate  in  sadness  to  admit  how  vain 
they  found  it  to  contend  with  that  black  tide.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  has  begun  also  the  resistance  of  the 
other  States  to  the  black  invasion.  The  line  is  becom 
ing  perceptible.  Along  railways  you  may  see  it  in 
Southern  Illinois  and  in  Texas,  at  small  towns,  where 
the  emigrant  negro  family  is  warned  to  move  on,  and 
where,  if  they  disregard  the  simple  placard,  a  summary 
voice  accosts  them.  These  things,  not  yet  much  ob 
served,  are  the  beginning  of  territorial  division. 

Of  all  the  migrations  in  history,  is  there  another  so 
wonderful  as  the  migration,  the  involuntary  migration, 
of  the  children  of  Ham  ?  Dragged  from  the  tropics  to 
the  temperate  zone,  from  the  Southern  to  the  Northern 
Hemisphere  and  to  another  continent  across  the  sea, 
they  breed  in  the  bosom  of  their  Caucasian  captors 
eleven  millions  of  Africans !  In  the  next  age  shall  there 
exist  a  black  republic  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Gulf? 
In  some  remoter  era  shall  a  multitude  beneath  the  Capi 
tol  behold  a  black  Chief  Justice  administering  the 
mighty  oath  to  a  black  President  of  all  the  Union  ? 

Shall  the  North  behold  in  exile  the  daughters  of  the 
South?  I  see,  I  see  a  later  generation,  in  which  only 
one  question,  only  one  thought,  animates  the  mind  of 
the  nation,  and  in  which,  while  a  mighty  people  hang 
upon  his  utterance,  some  modern  Demosthenes  gives 
life  again  to  the  impassioned  voice  that  thundered  be 
neath  the  acropolis  (if  I  may  imitate  that  glorious  invo 
cation)  :  "By  those  who  shed  their  blood  on  Bunker 


COLONEL    EVANSON'S   VIEWS   353 

Hill,  by  those  who  sank  with  flying  colours  on  Lake 
•Champlain,  by  those  who  fell  under  both  flags  at  Get 
tysburg,  by  all  you  other  souls  that  sleep  in  the  ceme 
teries  of  the  nation,  dear  heroes,  it  must  not,  shall 
not  be !" 


CHAPTER  LXXI 
BETTY'S    RETURN 

D  ETURNING  from  Virginia  in  tolerable  luck,  I  had 
^  no  sooner  arrived  in  town  when  I  found  a  mes 
sage  from  Betty  announcing  the  abrupt  return  of  her 
self  and  the  family,  a  change  of  plan  occasioned,  no 
doubt,  by  the  approaching  war  with  Spain,  when  all 
our  business  men  found  it  prudent  to  watch  the  mar 
kets  at  home.  After  some  deliberation  I  resolved  to 
meet  her  steamer,  now  due,  as  the  message  was  several 
days  old  when  received,  but  not  without  misgivings  as 
to  the  reception  I  should  get  from  her  parents. 

At  last  the  sweet  Betty  came  down  the  bridge.  We 
hailed  each  other  eagerly  a  hundred  times  in  advance, 
though  the  mother's  frown  seemed  to  darken  the  very 
air.  The  father  was  not  at  their  side,  for  he  was  busy 
with  luggage  and  friends,  but,  to  my  disgust,  at  the 
heels  of  my  beloved  trailed  the  insipid,  supercilious 
Catesby. 

In  so  public  a  place,  being  unable  to  bestow  on  Betty 
a  hearty  caress,  I  was  trying  to  be  civil  to  the  mother 
and  Catesby,  when  the  latter,  with  marked  rudeness, 
not  only  failed  to  return  my  bow,  but,  wedging  himself 
between  Betty  and  me  and  turning  his  back  in  my  very 
face,  began  to  lead  her  off.  It  was  a  marked  insult. 

"You  infernal  puppy,"  I  cried.  "Get  out  of  here, 
or  I'll  beat  you ;  do  you  hear,  I'll  beat  you !" 

354 


BETTY'S    RETURN  355 

With  that,  catching  Catesby  by  the  arm,  which  I 
must  have  twisted  badly,  I  nearly  flung  him  on  a  heap 
of  bags  and  parcels,  and  created,  as  was  natural,  a  small 
commotion.  The  mother  was  furious. 

"You  miserable  fellow !"  she  exclaimed  to  me ;  and 
then  to  Betty :  "Get  into  the  carriage  quickly.  This 
boor  of  yours  will  have  us  all  in  the  police  station." 

"You  sha'n't  talk  that  way,  mother,"  cried  Betty. 
"Mr.  Cameron  was  insulted,  grossly  insulted.  Come, 
Charles,  get  us  a  hansom.  That's  good  enough  for  me. 
Take  me  home  yourself." 

Even  the  mother  stood  back  before  the  angry  eyes 
of  the  girl  as  we  told  our  driver  to  be  off. 

"I  never  have  been  so  ashamed  of  myself  in  my  life," 
I  said.  "What  a  fool,  to  lose  my  temper  so.  I  hope  I 
didn't  hurt  him." 

Betty,  leaning  very  close  to  me,  whispered : 

"I  hope  you  did." 

We  laughed  at  this,  and  then  she  added : 

"That  man  is  a  horror  to  me.  You  know,  he  must 
have  spies  on  you.  The  fellow  has  been  telling  mother 
and  father  that  you  are  seen  a  great  deal  with  Lillian 
Evanson." 

The  sisterly  tenderness  of  Lillian,  with  two*  or  three 
little  kisses,  so  innocently  intended,  dear  reader,  re 
curred  to  my  mind  most  uneasily. 

"Why,  the  scoundrel!"  I  exclaimed.  "How  could 
he — why,  Betty,  you  know — to  be  sure,  I  have  visited 
Miss  Evanson — but  on  business,  Betty.  You  under 
stand.  My  uncle's  affairs  were  so  strangely  intermin 
gled.  I'll  whip  that  fellow  Catesby  yet.  I  am  sure, 
Betty,  you  didn't " 

"Believe  it?"  answered  the  little  woman,  proudly. 


356  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"Never !  I  saw  through  his  scheme  in  a  moment.  What 
I  wondered  at  was  why  he  didn't  have  more  sense  and 
make  out  a  story,  or  revive  one,  about  that  horrible 
Trixy  Gordon." 

Again  I  felt  uneasy,  as  I  reflected  on  the  power  of 
the  latter  lady  to  make  me  tender. 

"Trixy  tried  me  sorely,  Betty." 

"You  were  brave,  after  all,  about  that,"  she  replied. 

"Betty,"  I  added,  with  sweet  hypocrisy,  "a  man  can 
trust  you  so!" 

"Thank  you,  dear,"  she  replied.  "Do  you  know, 
Charles,  I  couldn't  tolerate  those  titled  adventurers 
abroad.  You  can't  believe  a  word  they  utter,  can't 
trust  them  behind  your  back  a  second.  Give  me  one 
of  our  true  American  men." 

If  you  are  a  married  man  you  will  agree  that  this 
Betty  of  mine  was  a  jewel ;  that  she  had  all  those  rea 
sonable  qualities  that  make  a  man  happy.  You  will 
also  agree  that  it  is  better  to  leave  some  things  untold 
and  to  look  fidelity  when  you  might  betray  repentance 

The  best  part  of  man  is  hypocrisy,  and  there  are  few 
virtues  so  useful  as  those  that  are  pretended. 

Thus  we  rode  on,  discussing  my  bad  business  condi 
tion.  To  marry  on  my  present  little  income  was  out 
of  the  question.  My  lawyers,  however,  would  soon 
decide  whether  I  could  legally,  by  withdrawing  my  con 
test  of  the  will,  regain  my  right  to  accept  the  seventy- 
five  thousand.  With  that  I  could  start,  and  Betty  be 
my  partner  in  life. 

"I'm  not  afraid  to  be  poor,"  said  the  ingenuous  girl, 
who  had  not  the  slightest  conception  of  what  poverty 
meant.  "I  can  get  on  with  two  or  three  servants.  I'll 
begin  this  minute  to  save  my  pin  money." 


BETTY'S    RETURN  357 

I  longed  to  tell  her  of  that  second  will,  but  it  was  out 
of  the  question,  so  we  assumed  that  at  most  I  could 
have  only  seventy-five  thousand  in  all  those  millions — 
and  perhaps  nothing  at  all. 


CHAPTER  LXXII 
SOME  DISAGREEABLE  THINGS 

"\17ITHIN  two  days  Senator  Baxom  sent  for  me  in 
some  haste  and  I  found  him  finishing  luncheon 
with  Senator  Gway.  This  statesman  I  knew  only  from 
photographs  or  cartoons,  hence  I  was  pleased  to  recog 
nise  so  great  a  man  with  all  his  vices  rotting  in  his 
face. 

War  with  Spain,  they  informed  me,  after  Baxom 
had  introduced  me  to  Gway  as  the  very  discreet  young 
fellow  they  had  in  mind,  was  inevitable,  together  with 
a  consequent  effect  on  stocks  of  all  kinds.  Some  would 
fall  greatly,  others  would  rise  exceedingly  high. 
Among  such  as  would  fall  were  reckoned  mining 
shares,  hence  it  became  necessary  for  the  two  Senators 
to  protect  their  interests,  as  they  termed  it,  by  buying 
these  shares  indirectly  from  numerous  holders,  who, 
having  borrowed  to  buy  them,  might  find  their 
loans  demanded  in  the  fretful  money  market,  these 
holders  being,  I  perceived,  many  simple-minded  per 
sons  who,  in  making  their  investment,  had  been  in  no 
small  degree  influenced  by  the  splendid  names  of 
Baxom  and  Gway. 

Both  Senators  deplored  war  in  general,  but  believed 
this  one  would  be  a  good  thing  for  the  nation.  Our 
arms  had  long  lain  inert.  The  letting  of  a  little  blood 

358 


SOME  DISAGREEABLE  THINGS  359 

was  needed  now.  A  whole  generation  had  grown  with 
out  so  much  as  a  glimpse  of  carnage  and  manoeuvres 
and  hospital  trains.  The  nation  would  rise  as  one  man 
to  avenge  our  honour  in  the  sunken  Maine.  Business 
would  be  fine. 

It  was  accordingly  arranged  that  I  should  go  to  Col 
orado  at  once  under  an  assumed  name  to  buy  these  scat 
tered  shares.  Before  doing  so  I  returned  to  New  York 
to  see  Betty.  This  it  was  now  easy  to  do,  either  at  the 
Oldworths  or,  better  still,  at  the  Olcotts,  where  the 
most  agreeable  friendship  had  sprung  up  between  the 
two  young  women,  a  friendship  very  natural,  indeed, 
when  we  consider  that  they  were  parties  to  the  most 
tender  of  all  conspiracies.  Bad  luck  attended  me  in 
one  thing.  Old  Sinclair,  happening  to  enter  the  train 
at  Philadelphia,  espied  me  in  my  seat  and  most  causti 
cally  addressed  himself  to  me. 

"Mr.  Cameron,"  he  said,  with  none  of  his  usual  cant 
of  manner,  "your  behaviour  at  the  dock  the  other  morn 
ing  was  so  scandalous  that  I  believe  I  may  be  exceed 
ingly  plain  with  you,  indeed." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Sinclair,"  I  replied,  with  a  pleasant 
smile,  determined  he  should  not  have  the  satisfaction 
of  wounding  me.  "Pray,  don't  trouble  yourself  with 
candour,  though.  I  think  I  understand  things  ex 
actly." 

"Not  quite,  young  fellow,"  he  retorted  testily. 
"There's  one  thing  I  have  left  unsaid.  If  you  marry 
Betty  I'll  disinherit  her.  Not  one  cent  of  my  money 
shall  ever  get  into  your  hands." 

"I  think  we  can  get  on  without  it,  thank  you,"  I 
replied. 

"Very  good,  sir,"  he  continued.     "You  talk,  I  sup- 


360  A   NICE   YOUNG  MAN 

pose,  about  your  undying  love  for  her,  and  so  forth, 
but  I  shall  have  my  opinion  of  a  young  man  who  de 
liberately  induces  a  girl  to  throw  away  every  dollar  of 
her  inheritance." 

Giving  me  no  time  for  a  reply,  he  left  me  with  a 
look  that  boded  no  good  to  Betty,  to  whom  I  speedily 
related  what  had  occurred.  That  he  might  do  this 
she  feared,  as  his  temper  was  inflexible,  nor  were  my 
feelings  at  all  comfortable,  when,  having  an  experience 
of  my  own,  I  reflected  on  the  injustice  it  would  do  her 
to  cause  her  the  loss  of  all  her  patrimony. 

"It  isn't  this  money  matter,  though,  that  troubles 
me,"  remarked  Betty.  "That  I  am  ready  to  lose.  The 
real  trouble  is,  Charles,  I  must  not  marry  against  the 
wishes  of  both  my  parents.  We  must  bring  them  to 
our  side.  Think  how  good  they  have  been  to  me,  and 
they  mean  me  no  harm.  Now,  don't  worry.  I  don't 
mean  that  I  shall  marry  to  please  them,  only  that  I 
don't  wish,  if  I  can  help  it,  to  marry  to  cfoyplease  them." 

I  now  consulted  my  lawyers  to  see  whether  I  could 
legally  claim  the  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  under 
the  Albany  will,  upon  which  they  assured  me  my  hav 
ing  filed  a  contest  was  an  irrevocable  breach  of  the  con 
dition,  and  that  all  I  could  hope  for  now  was  to  get  a 
compromise.  This  last  was  intolerable  to  me.  I  would 
ask  nothing  by  way  of  concession  from  such  a  gang 
of  thieves.  Could  we  have  the  trial  soon?  I  would 
fight  to  the  end.  My  heart  sank  to  hear  of  the  fourth 
postponement  of  the  hearing,  but  I  comforted  myself 
with  their  looks  of  success.  Both  my  counsel  now  ap 
peared  more  sanguine.  The  case  looked  better.  Courts 
were  less  disposed  now  than  ever  to  let  a  dying  man  do 
as  he  pleased  with  his  estate.  There  were  new  decisions 


SOME  DISAGREEABLE  THINGS  361 

hot  from  the  bench.  The  trend,  both  of  public  opinion 
and  of  judicial  decree,  was  against  testators.  Wills 
were  none  of  their  business.  Indeed,  it  might  even  be 
said  now  that  the  existence  of  a  will  raised  a  presump 
tion  of  fraud. 

The  trial  was  set  for  September,  and  I  sent  Betty 
a  warm  letter  of  prediction,  which  it  needed  only  her 
loving  heart  to  resolve  into  certainty.  Then  I  returned 
to  Washington,  saw  the  Senators,  and  was  dispatched 
incognito  to  Denver. 

I  had  already  an  opportunity  to  see  what  class  of  men 
our  country  is  able  to  get  for  its  service,  and,  while  I 
saw  some  good  men  of  talent,  I  was  disappointed  indeed 
at  the  whole,  nor  could  I  fail  to  arrive  at  some  conclu 
sion  as  to  the  cause  of  so  singular  a  consequence,  which 
reflections,  dear  reader,  are  to  be  yours  now  as  well  as 
mine. 

Of  all  the  nations  in  history  ours  is  the  first  in  which 
it  has  not  been  esteemed  an  honour  by  all  citizens  to 
be  in  the  public  service.  The  vital  blood  of  govern 
ment  consists  in  the  emulation  of  every  class  to  serve 
the  state.  In  such  a  condition  some  aspire  from  greed, 
but  all  from  pride.  Thus  it  was  in  cultured  Athens, 
in  military  Rome,  in  commercial  Venice.  Thus  it  is  to 
day  in  Germany,  France,  and  England,  the  richest 
merchants  of  which  vie  with  their  scholars  and  their 
haughtiest  barons  in  the  noblest  of  aspirations,  the  de 
sire  to  govern.  Woe  to  the  country  that  beholds  this 
spirit  dying  among  its  people !  For  the  loss  of  this  no 
growth  of  population,  no  increase  of  wealth,  can  pos 
sibly  compensate.  They  who  have  shown  themselves 
the  most  capable  in  private  employments  must  be  led  to 
public  place.  Where  honour  cannot  entice  them,  re- 


362  A   NICE   YOUNG  MAN 

ward  pecuniary  reward,  must  induce  them  to  aspire, 
far  their  talents  must  be  had  at  any  price  and  the  state 
must  procure  both  their  dignity  and  their  capacity.  Let 
not  theorists  upon  government  disdain  to  recall  them 
by  mere  money,  or  say  that  the  services  which  only  sal 
ary  can  obtam  are  to  be  despised.  Riches  have  been 
long  a  measure  of  ability  among  us,  and  in  a  land 

ZT  mtrey  ?  S°  resPected  as  to  keep  talent  in  private 
profit,  public  place  will  itself  become  respected  by  splen 
dour  of  emolument. 

All  the  ills  that  now  torment  our  country,  the  rotten 
governments  of  a  hundred  cities,  the  poorly  made  laws 
the  poorer  enforcement  of  all  the  laws,  the  spread  of 
tolerated  crime,  all  can  be  traced  to  that  wretched  fru 
gality  of  democracy  which,  during  three  generations 
nas  refused  to  proportion  in  a  reasonable  degree  the 
rewards  of  office  to  the  profits  of  business,  which  has 
degraded  public  place  to  a  seat  of  poverty  in  a  land  of 
riches,  and  which  has  rendered  politics  contemptible  by 
leaving  ,t  profitable  only  to  the  bad.    In  vain  is  talent 
Chided  to  serve  the  nation.     It  refuses  the  unfair  call 
It  refuses  an  old  age  of  poverty.     It  refuses  poverty 
when    universal    opinion,  long   prevailing,  withholds 
from  the  poor  servants  of  the  government  the  compen 
sation  of  being  envied  for  their  places  by  those  who  are 
distinguished  in  private  success. 


CHAPTER  LXXIII 
I    GO    TO    DENVER 

LJARDLY  had  I  taken  the  train  for  Chicago  and 
*  •*•  Denver  when  I  was  accosted  by  one  Gregory,  a 
former  acquaintance  in  New  York,  and  a  lively  lad, 
who,  though  he  had  never  suffered  reverses  of  fortune, 
was  able  to  feel  considerable  sympathy  with  me.  We 
repaired  to  the  buffet  car,  where  he  informed  me  he  was 
bound  for  Chicago  and  was  unusually  thirsty.  He 
then  introduced  me  to  some  Pittsburgers,  who,  having 
been  made  nervous  by  a  rumour  that  Congress  would 
reduce  the  tariff  on  steel  a  fraction  of  one  per  cent., 
were  also  resorting  to  stimulants.  These  fatted  swine 
of  statute,  notwithstanding  they  were  wallowing  in 
profits,  complained  bitterly  of  that  spread  of  anarchy 
which  grumbled  at  their  selling  iron  six  thousand  miles 
from  the  United  States  more  cheaply  than  at  home, 
nothing  being  more  capable  of  just  explanation  if  other 
people  could  only  see  it  as  clearly  as  themselves. 

Being  fresh  from  a  circle  in  which  their  prejudices 
were  shared,  I  assured  them  the  nation  would  not  be 
so  unreasonable  as  to  interfere  with  their  profits ;  that, 
in  fact,  I  had  friends  who  would  not  permit  the  people 
to  do  so,  a  prediction  that  found  great  favour  and 
caused  my  millionaire  acquaintances  to  say  that  I  need 
mention  no  names,  as  they  understood  me  exactly,  the 

'363 


364  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

maligned  commercial  interests  of  the  country  being, 
thank  God,  not  without  a  friend  or  two  still.  They 
then  spoke  of  Senators  Baxom  and  Gway  as  bulwarks 
of  national  credit.  The  ingratitude  of  the  labouring 
classes  was  next  commented  on. 

"I  have  continually  raised  the  wages  of  my  men," 
said  one.  "Never  have  I  failed  to  respond  to  their  de 
mands.  It  is  a  sacrifice  cheerfully  made.  I  am  a  mere 
steward  in  the  management  of  my  own  properties.  I 
am  willing  to  stand  any  loss  in  that  respect." 

With  this  he  called  for  champagne. 

"People,  I  know/'  he  continued,  "grumble  at  the 
advanced  price  of  steel.  Mr.  Cameron,  you  must  in 
your  situation  be  prepared  to  answer  such  unjust  com 
plaints.  How  can  it  be  otherwise?  Is  it  possible  to 
manufacture  as  cheaply  now  as  heretofore?  Look  at 
the  cost  of  labour  in  this  country.  If  we  have  advanced 
the  price  of  steel,  God  knows  it  is  only  because  we  have 
had  to  pay  more  to  our  men.  If  the  people  of  this 
country  want  high-priced  labour,  let  them  pay  for  it." 

Finding  I  was  bound  for  Denver,  each  gave  me  his 
card,  on  which  was  scribbled  the  name  of  some  friend 
in  that  city  who  could  be  of  service  to  me,  and  I  was 
sorry  to  leave  them  behind  at  Pittsburg.  At  Chicago 
I  left,  also,  Gregory,  who  had  proved  an  unusually 
good  fellow. 

About  a  day  later,  arriving  in  Denver,  I  assumed  the 
name  of  Edward  Costello  of  Philadelphia,  sought  a 
modest  hotel,  and  began  to  look  to  my  business.  The 
very  next  day,  though,  whom  should  I  stumble  upon 
but  Gregory. 

"Hello,  Cameron,"  he  cried.  "I  was  in  hopes  of 
finding  you." 


I   GO   TO   DENVER  365 

"Not  so  fast,  Gregory,"  I  replied.  "In  Denver  I 
am  Edward  Costello." 

"Good  enough!"  said  he.  "You  might  have  picked 
a  worse  name ;  but  what's  the  cause  ?" 

"That  I  can't  tell  you,  as  it  is  other  people's  business, 
but  secrecy  is  the  word.  Now,  what  are  you  doing 
here?" 

"A  short  story,"  he  answered.  "I  caught  the  word 
in  Chicago  that  there  is  something  going  to  happen  in 
Bumble  Bee  stock.  If  you  see  any,  buy  it  or  send  it 
to  me,  but  don't  talk." 

For  this  act  of  confidence  I  thanked  him  cordially, 
making,  however,  very  little  importance  of  it,  since  I 
had  things  of  my  own  concern  to  do  before  I  could  re 
new  my  plans  with  Betty. 

That  night  I  got  a  telegram  from  the  Senator  re 
questing  that  I  go  at  once  to  Congor  City,  about  a  hun 
dred  miles  away,  to  see  a  certain  Colonel  Jones,  who 
would  have  information  for  me,  and  my  astonishment 
was  complete  when,  on  my  meeting  that  person,  I  re 
ceived  through  him  a  letter  from  the  Senator,  written 
the  day  I  left  Washington,  and  explaining  to  me  an 
entirely  different  errand  from  what  he  had  talked  of 
in  that  city.  The  cunning  old  fellow  had  deter 
mined  not  to  let  me  into  the  secret  until  I  was  past 
the  possibility  of  talking  on  the  way,  and  it  was  not 
mining  stock  I  was  to  get,  but  deeds  to  sundry  coal 
lands.  Drafts  in  my  name  as  Edward  Costello  were 
enclosed.  All  I  had  to  do  was  to  see  that  half  a  dozen 
people  sign  conveyances  to  a  corporation  that  I  pay  into 
their  hands  the  proper  amounts,  and  come  home. 


CHAPTER  LXXIV 
I  RETURN  TO  WASHINGTON 

PHIS  task  I  saw  I  could  discharge  in  a  few  days,  for 
1  I  had  little  else  to  do  than  to  find  or  wait  for  the 
vendors,  none  of  whom  were  reluctant  to  sell.  While 
I  was  thus  idly  employed  I  became  acquainted  with 
many  plain  people  in  the  country  hotel,  among  whom 
was  a  silent  but  pleasant-looking  miner.  He  was  one 
of  that  class  known  as  prospectors,  who,  as  they  bear 
the  hardships  of  the  mountains,  are  the  most  honest, 
and  commonly  the  least  successful,  of  those  who  have 
to  do  with  mines.  No  class  of  men  being  more  prone 
to  sudden  friendships  as  well  as  sudden  suspicions,  luck 
caused  it  to  happen  that  this  man,  Canby,  took  a  fancy 
to  me.  On  the  second  day,  having  loitered  a  good  deal 
with  me,  he  at  length  took  me  into  his  confidence  con 
cerning  a  claim  on  which  he  was  at  work.  This  sort 
of  talk,  of  course,  would  have  attracted  only  a  mo 
ment's  notice  from  one  more  experienced  in  mines  than 
myself,  inasmuch  as  not  one  discovery  in  a  thousand 
is  anything  better  than  a  ticket  in  a  lottery,  but  to  me, 
who  had  never  seen  one  of  these  will-o'-the-wisps,  the 
discovery  of  any  gold  meant  a  great  deal.  With  increas 
ing  interest  I  listened  to  dips,  spurs,  country  rock,  horses, 
faults,  and  the  like,  until  I  fancied  I  saw  quite  clearly 
the  reasons  why  other  people  had  not  avoided  mistakes 

366 


I  RETURN  TO  WASHINGTON      367 

in  mines.  Then  were  recounted  the  famous  mines  of 
the  past  generation,  the  Comstock  lode  and  the  Silver 
King.  The  Dolly  was  to  be  another  such. 

Canby  had  the  enthusiasm  of  his  own  belief,  which 
quickly  inspired  me  to  risk  three  hundred  dollars  for 
a  quarter  interest,  and  for  that  I  got  from  him  his  deed 
at  once,  the  fellow  honestly  applying  the  money  in  pro 
vision  for  further  work.  He  contributed  three  hun 
dred  dollars  himself  for  other  supplies,  bade  me  good 
bye  on  the  third  day,  and  returned  to  his  hole  in  the 
hills. 

For  my  own  part,  I  began  the  next  day  to  regret 
my  little  investment,  for  I  soon  heard  enough  of  mining 
to  perceive  that  these  ventures  are  the  common  sink 
of  money,  everybody  in  a  mining  region  being  the 
owner  of  several  claims.  However,  there  was  nothing 
to  do  but  to  forget  it,  so,  applying  myself  to  my  real 
undertaking,  I  was  able  on  the  fifth  day  to  conclude 
it  and  return  to  Washington. 

Here  I  found  on  my  arrival  at  midnight  only  poor 
reports  from  the  detectives,  dubious  lines  from  my  law 
yers,  and,  by  some  mischance,  not  a  letter  from  Betty. 
Disgusted,  I  sauntered  to  an  oyster-house  for  a  bite 
before  sleep.  Just  as  I  was  swallowing  my  last  mouth 
ful  there  bounded  in  a  number  of  chorus  girls,  one  of 
whom,  thoughtlessly  dropping  into  a  chair  at  my  small 
table,  utterly  crushed  my  hat.  She  sought  to  restore 
it,  with  honest  apologies. 

"My  name's  Lottie — Lottie  Lingerie,  some  of  the 
boys  call  me.  McGovern's  my  real  name.  I'll  pay  for 
this." 

"Not  on  your  life,  Miss  Lingerie!"  I  cried.     "I'm 


368  A    NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

in  bad  luck  now,  and,  just  to  break  the  run  of  ill  luck, 
here's  my  last  ten  dollars  for  you  girls  to  drink  my 
health  with  after  I  go." 

"Well,  you  are  a  sport!"  quoth  the  fairy.  "My  father 
lost  all  his  fortune  once.  He  was  in  the  grocery  busi 
ness.  Fifteen  hundred  dollars !  It  was  terrible.  What's 
your  name?" 

"Cameron,"  I  replied,  as  I  rose  to  leave  her. 

"No  relation  to  that  old  Cameron  that  the  papers 
talk  so  much  about,  that  used  to  run  after  Lillian  Evan- 
son  and  left  such  a  lawsuit  ?" 

"Oh,  a  sort  of  relative,"  said  I.  "Good-night, 
Lottie." 

"Well,  if  you  are,"  she  continued,  "there's  a  sharp 
named  Sanderson  connected  with  that  thing,  that's  no 
good.  We  all  hate  him.  He  used  to  hang  around  in 
New  York  before  we  went  on  the  road.  He's  in  Flor 
ida  now  with  one  of  our  girls,  hiding  there  with  her, 
crazy  about  her,  you  know,  and  thrown  over  some 
woman  that's  trying  to  find  him.  Good-night.  Say, 
girls,  here's  the  wine  for  everybody." 

The  importance  of  this  hint  grew  on  me,  and  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  I  telegraphed  to  my  detectives 
to  send  one  of  their  men  to  me  at  once.  Nothing,  they 
had  assured  me,  was  more  important  than  a  quarrel 
between  some  of  the  conspirators.  Maud  Start,  known 
to  be  infatuated  with  Sanderson,  would,  it  was  hoped, 
have  cause  for  jealousy,  the  most  vindictive  of  human 
passions,  but  thus  far  no  cause  for  it  had  apparently 
been  given  her. 

By  the  next  night  one  of  those  wise-looking  sleuth- 
hounds  arrived  from  New  York,  got  all  the  clues  I 


I  RETURN  TO  WASHINGTON      369 

could  give  him,  had  taken  his  own  way  of  following 
them  up,  and  was  able  to  inform  me  he  had  gotten  the 
exact  address,  as  well  as  the  assumed  name,  of  San 
derson  in  Florida. 


CHAPTER  LXXV 
MY   LAWSUIT 

T  HAD  scarcely  gotten  back  to  Washington  before 
war  was  declared,  or  was  begun,  against  Spain. 
The  nation  was  in  arms,  the  Capital  filled  with  mili 
tary  men,  contractors,  and  lobbyists. 

Then  were  seen  those  gallant  musters  of  our  forces. 
Unused  to  martial  scenes,  our  population  exulted  in 
this  display  of  unconquerable  youth.  The  mobilisation, 
the  parades,  the  camps  were  accounted  worthy  of  a 
great  people  aroused  to  victory.  In  this  spirit  every 
movement  of  our  troops  was  proclaimed  an  act  of 
strategy  or  of  daring.  The  rest  of  the  world  having 
no  recent  feats  of  war  to  judge  it  by,  was  also  pleased, 
for  the  world  had  yet  to  behold  the  legions  of  Japan. 
Renown  attended  the  exploits  of  our  navy.  Its  vigi 
lance,  its  courage,  and  its  final  success  were  received 
with  unbounded  acclaim  until  that  morning  in 
May  when  the  newsboys  around  the  world  were 
crying  the  final  triumph  of  Japan,  and  mankind 
were  crying  the  final  triumph  of  Japan,  and  mankind 
would  listen  to  nothing  but  the  name  of  Togo,  would 
listen  to  nothing  but  the  glory  of  Togo,  the  master  of 
the  seas. 

The  Senator  glowed  with  love  of  country  and  new 
schemes,  a  lobby  revolving  around  him  in  which  was 

370 


MY  LAWSUIT  371 

hatched  every  day  a  new  kind  of  profit.  As  for  me, 
not  a  moment  of  leisure  was  allowed,  willing  as  I  was, 
besides,  to  participate  in  so  much  excitement. 

But  the  detectives,  as  usual,  were  thrown  off  the  scent 
of  Sanderson,  whom,  after  tracing  him  with  the  girl 
to  Florida,  they  lost  track  of,  but  accomplishing  at  least 
this,  that  they  were  able,  through  anonymous  letters,  to 
send  Maud  Start  a  circumstantial  account  of  his  in 
fidelity.  This,  it  was  predicted,  would  bear  good  fruit. 
Justice  might  result  from  the  rage  of  woman  scorned. 

This  being,  as  you  may  imagine,  a  period  of  provok 
ing  suspense,  I  could  come  to  no  plan  as  to  my  marry 
ing.  All  my  hopes  were  set  on  the  schemes  of  the  Sen 
ator,  since  nothing  in  my  lawsuit  gave  me  reasonable 
expectation,  nor  was  any  thought  more  exasperating 
than  that,  if  I  could  induce  the  dear  Betty  to  wed,  it 
could  only  be  at  the  expense  of  her  own  fortune  in  ex 
change  for  the  woeful  hazard  of  mine. 

Meanwhile  I  had  to  endure  the  expense  of  litigation, 
not,  indeed,  of  the  contingent  counsel  fees,  but  of  ob 
taining  testimony,  a  burden  most  grievous,  as  Olcott 
just  at  this  juncture,  after  the  most  generous  loans  to 
me,  found  a  pinch  in  his  affairs.  It  was  plain  I  should 
have  to  capitulate  if  these  delays  were  prolonged. 
There  was  only  one  advantage  I  had :  the  other  side, 
on  account  of  my  contest,  were  denied  the  money  dur 
ing  the  litigation,  and,  could  I  have  humbled  myself 
to  seek  a  compromise  with  such  thieves,  I  might  have 
gotten  something  at  once.  As  it  was,  I  might  hope  to 
have  them  dissolve  amid  necessity  and  cupidity. 

Betty  cheered  me  with  many  letters  to  Washington 
between  my  visits  to  New  York,  together  with  pretty 
photographs  of  her  in  such  poses,  garb  and  situations 


372  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

as  were  invented  by  the  amateur  mind  of  Mary  Olcott, 
sweet  little  pictures  indeed,  in  which  she  looked  as 
daintily  buxom  as  any  dimpled  maid  in  the  gardens  of 
Hokusai. 

Playfully  sanguine,  she  would  write  one  letter  in  a 
square,  another  in  a  circle  like  a  round-robin,  a  third 
with  a  sketch  of  the  great  mansion  we  should  occupy 
(for  she  could  draw  with  some  skill),  a  fourth  with  a 
doleful  outline  of  a  cabin  we  should  have  to  accept  in 
our  last  extremities.  Then,  assuming  we  were  already 
married,  she  would  say :  "We're  down  to  two  servants 
now,  Charles,"  or  "I'm  discharging  my  last  maid  to 
day." 

Often,  as  was  natural,  I  thought  of  that  will  in  Lil 
lian's  hands,  a  few  sheets  of  paper  that  could  open  so 
easily  treasures  like  those  of  Aladdin.  But  I  would 
not  dwell  on  that.  Every  man  in  America  would  de 
spise  me,  I  was  sure,  for  riches  so  obtained,  so  I  sent 
a  peremptory  reply  in  the  negative  to  this  note  that 
came  from  Lillian  during  that  gloomy  period : 

"Don't  worry.  My  mind  is  made  up.  If  the  suit  goes  against 
you,  I'll  produce  that  thing  at  once.  I'll  renounce  that  horrible 
sum  that  was  to  go  to  me,  so  maybe  the  public  will  soften  a 
little,  and  the  blow  not  be  so  hard.  Don't  worry." 


CHAPTER  LXXVI 
CONCERNING  THE  PHILIPPINES 

*T*HE  trial  of  my  lawsuit  was  to  occur  just  three 
*  weeks  hence.  Until  then  I  could  think  of  nothing 
else  than  winning  it,  though  remaining  in  Washington 
as  the  Senator's  private  secretary.  To  me  was  left 
the  revision  of  his  speeches,  the  collection  of  the  data 
showing  his  industry  and  practical  research,  and  the 
careful  reading  of  newspapers  that  criticised  either  him 
or  his  friends. 

In  this  way  I  saw  much  of  the  President,  over  whom, 
it  was  plain,  the  Senator  had  great  influence.  The 
head  of  the  nation  was  a  kindly  man,  easily  to  be  led 
about  by  strong  minds,  provided  they  appeared  to  rep 
resent  the  popular  turn,  of  which,  for  he  was  a  tim 
orous  politician,  he  was  ever  solicitous. 

One  day  the  Senator  came  to  me  as  if  in  much  se 
crecy,  it  being  his  habit  to  talk  with  me  even  when  he 
really  cared  little  for  my  opinion  and  had  his  own  no 
tions  made  up. 

"Cameron,"  he  whispered,  "what  do  you  think  of 
this  Philippine  business  ?" 

"As  to  our  keeping  the  islands,  you  mean?" 

"Yes,"  he  replied.  "Do  you  think  we  can  make  any 
money  out  of  them?  Even  you  young  fellows  have 
ideas  sometimes  on  these  things.  How  does  this  new- 

375 


374  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

fangled  sort  of  empire  strike  you  ?  What  do  the  papers 
say?" 

"Upon  my  word,  Senator,"  said  I,  "this  affair  of 
Dewey's  has  raised  a  new  problem.  The  country  seems 
a  little  inclined  to  keep  the  islands,  though." 

"I  think  so,  yes,  I  fancy  so,"  said  he.  "Some  of  our 
friends  are  seeing  to  it  that  the  press  steers  public 
opinion  a  little.  The  public  have  to  be  guided  some 
times,  you  know." 

I  now  saw  that  the  old  statesman  had,  as  the  saying 
is,  an  axe  to  grind,  that  he  was  resolved  on  our  keeping 
the  islands,  and  that  in  a  short  time  I  should  hear  of 
something  pretty. 

"The  President,"  I  remarked,  "when  I  saw  him 
yesterday  for  you  on  that  naval  bill,  dropped  a  remark 
that  inclines  me  to  believe  him  opposed  to  our  retaining 
the  Philippines." 

"What's  that?"  responded  he.  "Why,  the  last  time 
I  talked  to  the  old — but  no  matter.  The  President,  as 
you  know,  sometimes  changes  his  mind.  On  this  Phil 
ippine  question  he  has  no  fixed  opinions.  He  doesn't 
really  think  what  you  say.  He  merely  thinks  that  he 
thinks  it." 

Musing  a  moment,  he  added : 

"Suppose  to-day  you  see  him  for  me  on  that  pork 
and  beef  contract,  just  to  hand  him  these  memoranda, 
and  contrive  to  refer  to  this  Philippine  question  again. 
Then  suppose  you  drop  a  hint  that  the  people  every 
where  begin  to  feel  our  national  interests  demand  the 
islands,  and  so  forth.  Just  at  present  I  don't  care  to 
push  my  ideas  on  him ;  other  matters  are  pending,  you 
see." 

This  I  promised  to  do,  upon  which  he  launched  into 


CONCERNING  THE  PHILIPPINES  375 

the  advantages  of  our  trade  with  the  islands,  and,  above 
all  things,  our  duty  to  mankind.  At  the  latter  he 
winked,  declaring  the  newspapers  were  preaching  on 
that  text  admirably,  some  of  the  damned  scoundrels, 
he  added,  being  well  paid  for  it. 

"Now,  the  fact  is,  Cameron,  a  few  of  us  have  been 
looking  into  this  question  as  business  men  since  that 
fight  in  Manila  Bay.  Dewey  simply  brushed  that  Span 
ish  fleet  aside  with  the  back  of  his  hand,  and  the  busi 
ness  men  of  this  country  are  not  going  to  throw  his 
winnings  to  the  dogs.  I  understand  there  are  more 
good  railway  schemes  there  than  you  can  count,  so  with 
a  steamship  line  or  two  we  can  keep  a  few  good  fel 
lows  busy.  This  war  to  free  those  Cubans  is  costing 
the  country  a  barrel  of  money.  We  have  got  to  get 
it  back." 

However,  the  Senator  had  scarcely  repeated  to  me 
some  remarks  he  had  made  in  the  Senate  that  afternoon 
than  I  perceived  he  was  under  the  impression  the  Phil 
ippines  were  situated  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  Hawaii,  and,  in  fact,  a  portion  of  that  archipelago. 
How  he  had  fallen  into  such  an  error  I  did  not  know, 
but  I  hastened  to  tell  him  they  were  several  thousand 
miles  apart. 

"Damn  me !"  cried  he,  not  a  little  irritated.  "Why 
don't  you  keep  me  informed  about  this  sort  of  thing, 
Cameron?  I  haven't  the  time  to  find  islands,  when 
they're  digging  a  new  one  out  of  the  sea  every  day  since 
this  war  began.  I  understand  the  volcanoes  make  a 
new  one  every  twenty- four  hours.  I  can't  keep  up  with 
their  output." 

He  was  pacified,  though,  by  the  reflection  that  people 
would  be  more  ready  to  annex  them  if  nobody  knew 


376  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

where  they  were,  and  that  hardly  a  member  of  either 
house  was  better  informed  than  himself. 

"Now,  Cameron,"  he  concluded,  "you've  been  a  good 
boy,  and,  if  we  annex  those  islands  and  the  scheme  I 
have  in  mind  is  put  in  motion,  I  think  I'll  give  you  a 
chance  to  make  some  money." 

Not  displeased  with  this,  I  made  it  a  point,  when  I 
delivered  the  Senator's  papers  next  morning  to  the 
President,  to  mention  the  Philippines  and  the  contend 
ing  arguments  respecting  our  keeping  them,  which 
subject  immediately  threw  the  great  man  into  his  most 
oracular  and  sententious  style. 

"We  have  a  great  duty  to  perform,  Mr.  Cameron," 
said  he. 

"We  have,  indeed,  Your  Excellency." 

"A  nation,  no  less  than  an  individual,  must  be  true 
to  itself." 

"True,  Mr.  President.  You  have  in  mind,  I  sup 
pose,  that  part  of  our  people  who  think  that  in  this 
question  charity  begins  at  home." 

"Exactly,"  he  replied.  "This  nation  has  a  great 
duty,  in  fact,  I  may  say,  a  profound  obligation,  to  fol 
low  its  manifest  destiny.  Our  people  must  not  be  too 
prone  to  run  after  false  idols." 

From  this  I  saw  that  he  felt  the  majority  were  now 
inclining  to  give  up  the  islands  and  to  avoid  the  strain 
on  our  Constitution. 

"Quite  true,  your  Excellency,"  I  replied,  "which 
makes  me  wonder  at  the  great  turn  of  public  sentiment 
the  last  ten  days.  Every  mail  brings  us  another  news 
paper  in  favor  of  annexation.  A  great  and  rapid 
change." 

"Yes,  yes,"  the  President  replied.     "And  what  does 


CONCERNING  THE  PHILIPPINES  377 

Senator  Baxom  appear  to  think  about  it  ?" 

"He  is  deeply  impressed  with  our  obligation  to  man 
kind." 

"The  Senator  is  a  man  of  rare  judgment,  Mr.  Cam 
eron."  He  then  paused  a  moment  and  added :  "Yes, 
my  son,  as  I  said  before,  this  nation  is  under  a  profound 
obligation  to  follow  its  manifest  destiny.  And  what 
destiny  was  ever  more  manifestly  ours  than  that  of  im 
parting  our  beneficent  laws  and  policy  to  suffering  races 
thrown  by  divine  Providence  at  our  feet?  Can  we 
be  true  to  ourselves  if  we  are  not  true  to  others?  No, 
no." 

This  humour  of  his  I  increased  by  quoting  from  sev 
eral  journals,  which,  I  was  sure,  he  deemed  important, 
until  the  good  man  believed  an  avalanche  was  impend 
ing.  He  even  picked  up  and  hastily  scanned  some  news 
papers  that  had  been  lying  unopened  on  one  of  his 
tables,  journals  which  some  undesigning  secretary  had 
left  in  a  handy  place,  and  from  these  he  saw  enough 
at  a  glance  to  confirm  my  intimations. 

"Senator  Baxom  is  right,  as  usual,"  he  added,  as  I 
left  him.  "It  has  pleased  divine  Providence  to  point 
out  the  extension  of  our  justice,  mercy,  and  civilisa 
tion." 


CHAPTER  LXXVII 
MY    RETURN    TO   WEALTH 

T  NOW  felt  that  I  had  two  strings  to  my  bow,  the 
*  lawsuit  and  the  Philippines,  for,  as  to  the  latter, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  easy  quality  of  the  Sen 
ator  in  his  relations  to  the  public,  he  was  to  his  friends 
as  good  as  his  word.  I  was  now  suddenly  advised  that 
I  had  a  third.  It  was  a  telegram  from  Canby,  signed 
in  an  assumed  name,  concerning  the  Dolly,  a  message 
that  I  had  to  read  several  times  to  believe:  "Come 
here  right  now.  We  have  struck  the  richest  ore  in 
the  State." 

Before  this  I  had  paid  little  attention  to  this  venture, 
which,  in  truth,  I  had,  since  I  had  made  it,  begun  to 
believe  was  as  foolish  as  it  was  small.  Canby,  after 
the  fashion  in  the  West,  had  incorporated  "The  Dolly 
Consolidated  Mining  and  Reduction  Company,"  with 
a  capital  of  one  million  dollars,  of  which  one- fourth 
had  gone  to  me,  but  which  I  had  been  regarding  as  so 
much  waste-paper.  Of  his  own  three-fourths  he  had 
sold  about  half  to  others  for  small  sums  and  the  pro 
ceeds  he  had  lent  to  the  company,  or,  one  might  say, 
to  ourselves,  in  order  further  to  develop  the  mine.  It 
was  on  this  little  fund  that  the  sanguine  fellow  had 
sunk  the  shaft  deeper. 

Determined  not  to  be  carried  off  my  feet  by  this  en- 

378 


MY   RETURN   TO   WEALTH       379 

thusiasm  of  his,  I  answered  that  national  affairs  were 
taking  all  my  time,  so  that  I  must  not  leave  Washing 
ton  unless  there  was  no  doubt  of  the  discovery.  This 
drew  from  him  a  second  telegram  more  positive  than 
the  first.  In  consequence,  I  consulted  the  Senator, 
who,  after  swearing  that  a  mine  was  no  better  than  a 
rat-hole,  on  which  I  had  best  waste  no  time  and  less 
money,  admitted  I  ought  to  satisfy  myself  by  going  to 
Colorado  at  once. 

Within  two  days,  accordingly,  I  met  Canby  in  Den 
ver,  repaired  to  Conger  City  and  the  Dolly,  gravely 
explored  the  little  tunnel  and  examined  the  fragments 
of  ore.  As  for  Canby,  he  could  scarcely  conceal  his 
excitement,  until  finally,  by  the  reports  of  the  assayers, 
I  began  myself  to  believe  we  had  something  quite  un 
usual. 

The  chief  reason  for  my  coming  to  Colorado  was 
to  get  back  into  our  hands  as  much  of  the  stock  as  we 
could  before  our  good  luck  should  become  public.  Those 
who  had  bought  it  from  Canby  not  having  in  all  cases 
kept  it,  the  latter  felt  it  fair  we  should  get  it  back  from 
their  transferees.  This  we  must  do  quickly,  yet  with 
out  such  impatience  as  might  arouse  suspicion. 

A  few  cents  a  share  was  all  that  was  asked,  so  I  had 
no  difficulty  in  acquiring  a  great  deal  with  a  hundred 
dollars,  Canby  himself  having  no  money  to  buy  any  at 
all.  The  buying  was  itself  no  small  exertion  of  craft, 
for  in  a  mining  camp  rumour  is  quick.  However,  I 
got  all  I  could  afford  to  buy,  and,  seeing  there  was  some 
left  that  ought  not  to  be  missed,  I  sought  my  friend 
Gregory  in  Denver. 

"Let  me  beg  you,  Gregory,"  I  said,  "to  get  what 
you  can  of  Dolly  at  once.  Buy  it,  for  God's  sake!" 


380  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

On  this  recommendation  he  gaily  spent  three  hun 
dred  dollars  in  acquiring  shares  at  about  the  same  rate 
as  I  had. 

All  this  was  none  too  soon,  for  within  the  fifth  day 
the  news  came  that  in  a  mine  adjoining  the  Dolly  a 
rich  discovery  had  been  made  and  that  the  owners 
were  in  vain  attempting  to  conceal  it  until  they  should 
buy  the  floating  stock.  This  mine  being  much  more 
developed  than  our  own,  such  a  discovery  appeared  to 
mean  a  great  deal.  Its  shares  shot  up  in  value  like  a 
rocket.  At  the  same  time  it  was  speedily  remembered 
that  the  owners  of  the  Dolly  had  been  quietly  buying 
its  scattered  shares  also,  so  in  a  single  night  our  values 
multiplied  tenfold. 

During  the  next  two  weeks  I  lived  in  great  excite 
ment,  for,  if  I  chose  to  sell,  I  was  clearly  rich  again. 
A  little  I  did  sell,  receiving  ten  thousand  dollars,  and 
gladly  sent  to  Olcott  a  few  thousand  that  I  owed  him. 
As  for  Washington  and  the  Senator,  I  was  reluctantly 
though  generously  excused  by  the  old  fellow  from  re 
turning.  Indeed,  he  telegraphed  me  to  stay,  and  con 
gratulated  me  heartily,  only  adding  that  he  thought  I 
had  made  winnings  enough  already  to  leave  the  table. 

In  Denver  I  was  now  pointed  out  as  a  remarkably 
shrewd  young  mining  man,  a  wonderfully  clever  fellow 
from  the  East,  who  knew  a  good  thing  when  he  saw 
it,  in  a  way  unusual  in  the  brainless  foplings  of  the 
East.  I  felt  I  was  a  strong  man. 

"Gregory,"  said  I,  one  day,  "it  does  me  good  to 
think  I  tipped  you  the  wink  in  this  thing  at  the  right 
time,  and  I  wish  to  add  that,  if  you  feel  now,  old  man, 
that  you've  made  enough,  I  stand  ready  to  buy  every 
share  you  have  at  the  present  market  rates.  Don't  mis- 


MY   RETURN   TO   WEALTH       381 

understand  me,  now.  I  want  you  to  keep  these  shares, 
every  one  of  them,  but  this  is  your  time  to  make  a  hun 
dred  to  one,  if  you  wish  it." 

"No,  sir,"  replied  Gregory,  "not  on  your  life,  I'm 
satisfied,  Cameron,  perfectly  satisfied.  In  fact,  I'd  be 
little  less  than  a  pig  if  I  were  not.  Thank  you  for  the 
offer.  I  appreciate  it,  but  my  best  judgment  is  to  keep 
Dolly  for  the  present.  A  great  little  property,  Cam 
eron." 

While  we  were  talking  another  named  Godfrey 
joined  us.  This  Godfrey  having  also  bought  some 
shares  at  my  suggestion,  when  they  were  exceedingly 
cheap,  was  feeling  so  happy  over  the  multiplication  of 
his  profits  that,  when  I  repeated  to  him  this  offer  of 
mine,  he  declined  it  with  ungrateful  suspicion. 

"Of  course,  I  know  that  you  people,"  said  he,  "you 
large  holders,  want  to  gather  that  stock,  but,  thank 
you,  no.  I  fancy  I  know  its  value  as  well  as  the  rest 
of  you." 

At  this  unfair  talk  I  was  disposed  to  be  impatient, 
but  Gregory  quieted  the  tone  of  things  by  setting  me 
entirely  right  in  the  eyes  of  Godfrey. 

"All  I  meant,  Mr.  Godfrey,"  said  I,  "was  this :  that, 
as  mining  stocks  have  their  downs  as  well  as  their  ups, 
I  felt  I  ought  to  give  the  opportunity  now  for  a  great 
profit  to  anybody  I  had  induced  to  join  us." 

"Never  mind  the  downs,  as  you  call  them,  Mr.  Cam 
eron,"  he  replied.  "I  don't  take  fright  so  easily.  I 
know  a  good  thing  well  enough  to  keep  it  through  a 
change  of  weather." 

It  so  fell  out  that  the  very  next  day  Canby  and  my 
self,  feeling  that  we  had  properly  taken  care  of  all  our 
friends,  who  had  had  abundant  chance  to  get  rich  on 


382  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

Dolly  shares,  resolved  to  play  a  little  game  by  no  means 
uncommon  in  mines.  Determined  to  get  more  shares 
before  the  price  became  altogether  excessive,  we 
stopped  work  in  the  mine  entirely,  affected  a  somewhat 
different  countenance,  and  even  whispered  to  a  broker 
that  a  few  shares  could  be  had  from  us  under  the  cur 
rent  rate.  The  effect  of  this  was  gradually  felt.  Peo 
ple  became  suspicious.  Some  declared  it  was  a  mere 
play,  others  that  we  were  trying  to  make  it  appear  that 
it  was  only  a  play. 

In  the  midst  of  this  both  Gregory  and  Godfrey  came 
to  me  in  some  concern. 

"What's  the  matter,  Cameron?"  they  inquired. 
"Why  is  this  stock  sinking?" 

"I  tell  you  both  here,  in  strict  confidence,  that  there 
is  nothing  whatever  wrong  with  the  Dolly." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  in  confidence,  if  there's  noth 
ing  wrong  with  the  mine  ?" 

"To  be  strictly  confidential,  now,  I  mean  this  to  both 
of  you  in  the  utmost  secrecy,"  I  replied.  "Neither 
Canby  nor  myself  are  sorry  to  see  the  shares  go  down. 
Don't  ask  me  more  and  don't  sell  now — that's  all  I  have 
to  say.  Don't  sell  until  I  tell  you." 

With  this  they  appeared  well  enough  satisfied,  and 
some  time  passed,  during  which  the  stock  fell  still  fur 
ther,  Canby  and  myself  sinking  it  by  offering,  with 
seeming  secrecy,  such  small  portions  as  owners  might 
who  were  afraid  of  getting  rid  of  a  bad  stock  too  fast. 
Finally,  the  shares  suffering  one  day  a  decided  fall,  we 
reversed  our  actions  by  beginning  to  buy  with  much 
vigour,  in  consequence  of  which,  by  the  time  we  had 
all  we  wanted,  the  price  bounded  up  again. 

Gregory  and  Godfrey  being  now  in  partnership  as 


MY   RETURN   TO   WEALTH       383 

mining  brokers,  I  sauntered  into  their  office  that  even 
ing  in  the  best  of  humour  to  congratulate  them. 

"Didn't  I  tell  you !"  I  exclaimed,  with  a  smile.  "I'm 
glad  you  fellows  had  faith  in  me." 

"I  suppose  you're  referring  to  Dolly,"  replied  God 
frey,  coldly. 

"Exactly,"  I  answered.  "You  see  how  it  stands  to 
day.  I  suppose  you  don't  want  to  sell  now." 

"I  confess,  Cameron,"  responded  Gregory,  "that  I 
feel  somewhat  disappointed  with  you  concerning  this 
stock.  Its  last  freak  is  more  provoking  than  the  others." 

"I  should  say  so,"  added  Godfrey,  insolently.  "Why 
didn't  you  tell  us  it  was  going  up  ?" 

"I  warned  you  long  ago  it  was  only  a  temporary 
fall,"  I  replied,  supposing  they  were  grieved  merely  in 
not  having  bought  more  themselves  while  the  price 
was  low. 

"That's  all  very  well,"  retorted  Godfrey,  "but  you 
were  pretty  smooth.  Why  weren't  you  frank  and  open  ? 
We've  sold  our  stock  and  you've  probably  got  it  in  your 
pocket  now." 

"What's  that?"  I  exclaimed.  "Do  you  mean  you 
paid  no  attention  to  what  I  said,  but  sold  ?" 

"We  paid  attention,  Cameron,"  answered  Gregory, 
"to  what  you  did  and  not  what  you  said.  When  we 
saw  you  selling " 

"We  thought  it  high  time  for  a  reputable  firm  like 
ours,"  interrupted  Godfrey,  "to  wash  its  hands  of  such 
securities  entirely." 

Disgusted  that  I  had  been  so  little  trusted  by  those 
I  had  tried  to  oblige,  I  nevertheless  added : 

"At  any  rate,  gentlemen,  the  price  when  you  sold  was 


384  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

several  times  what  you  paid  for  it.  I  made  you  money, 
didn't  I?" 

"Oh,  that  sounds  well,"  sneered  Godfrey.  "We've 
made  a  trifle,  we  admit,  but  we  feel,  just  the  same,  that 
you  put  your  hand  into  our  pockets.  Good  evening, 
Mr.  Cameron.  We're  very  much  obliged." 

"But  I  made  you  money,  even  though  you  didn't 
trust  me,"  I  exclaimed.  "It's  your  own  fault  that  you 
didn't  make  more." 

"Oh,  yes,  we  made  money  in  the  thing,"  he  replied, 
"but  we  would  have  made  more  if  we  could  have 
trusted  you." 


CHAPTER  LXXVIII 
IN   THE   COURTS 

"PvURING  the  next  two  weeks  I  was  called  to  New 
•*-^  York  to  the  trial  of  my  case.  Reputed  to  be  rich 
in  my  mine,  I  again  appeared  a  gentleman.  Friends 
remembered  me  who  had  always  been  looking  in  an 
other  direction  during  my  depression,  and  I  was  in 
vited  into  their  automobiles  that  I  might  be  diverted 
with  the  antics  of  those  who  are  nearly  run  down  on 
foot.  But  the  old  folly  of  prosperity  did  not  return 
to  me.  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  I  now  felt  no  finer 
than  those  who  had  little. 

As  for  Betty,  I  contrived  to  see  the  faithful  girl 
every  day,  but  under  circumstances  unpleasant  to  us 
both,  for  my  pride  would  not  permit  me  to  enter  her 
parents'  house,  and,  while  we  could  meet  at  the  houses 
of  others  without  deception,  the  situation  was  not  free. 

"Let  it  be  settled  now,  Betty,  that  if  this  case  goes 
against  me,  I  shall  sell  all  my  shares  in  the  Dolly  and 
we  shall  marry  at  once.  I  don't  wish  to  sell  them  now, 
for  they  are  going  higher,  but  if  I  must,  I  must." 

Then  Betty  would  assure  me  the  Dolly  must  be  a 
grand  mine.  She  longed  to  see  it.  What  judgment  I 
had,  to  pereceive  the  future  of  a  hole  in  the  ground ! 

At  last  arrived  the  day  of  the  trial.  How  shall  I, 
unused  to  legal  terms,  attempt  to  describe  those  pro- 

385 


386  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

ceedings  in  which  the  law  conceals  its  operations  from 
the  vulgar?  The  statements  of  counsel,  the  motions, 
objections,  and  exceptions  gave  a  mysterious  gravity 
to  it  all.  I  felt  that  every  utterance  of  my  own  lawyers 
had  point  and  spirit,  while  the  counsel  for  the  will 
seemed  to  me  such  a  set  of  triflers  that  I  was  astonished 
whenever  the  judge  appeared  to  give  any  weight  to 
what  they  let  fall. 

The  proceedings  being  in  chancery,  as  it  is  called,  we 
were  free  from  a  jury,  which,  my  lawyers  assured  me, 
would  not  have  been  friendly  to  our  side,  so  I  attached 
deserved  importance  to  every  nod  of  the  judge's  head; 
nor  could  I  see  why  the  law  forbade  my  getting  up  my 
self  upon  occasion,  to  explain  to  him  what  I  deemed 
myself  particularly  able  to  make  clear.  Nothing, 
though,  I  was  advised,  can  more  shock  a  magistrate, 
when  he  has  to  decide  a  cause,  than  to  hear  suggestions 
in  aid  of  his  understanding  from  the  one  who  has  the 
matter  most  in  mind. 

However,  it  was  a  short  story.  During  the  first  day, 
the  judge  ruling  in  our  favour  on  nearly  every  point, 
we  were  jubilant ;  nor  did  my  counsel  fail  to  intimate 
that  I  had  not  underrated  their  influence  with  his 
Honour.  The  next  day,  though,  he  took  a  different 
turn,  laid  by  my  lawyers  to  his  displeasure  at  a  bailiff 
who  failed  to  air  the  room,  and  where  he  had  at  first 
viewed  suspiciously  everything  in  favour  of  the  will, 
he  now  plainly  intimated  a  duty  to  let  things  remain 
as  he  found  them.  Accordingly,  we  laboured  in  vain 
to  set  the  testament  aside.  Even  the  plain  perjuries 
of  Maud  Start  and  the  stammering,  half-incoherent 
testimony  of  the  servants,  who  rarely  agreed  with  each 
other,  as  well  as  the  opinions  of  experts,  who,  while  not 


IN   THE   COURTS  387 

unanimous,  were  for  the  most  part  of  the  belief  that 
the  signature  was  a  forgery,  were  not  sufficient  to  sat 
isfy  the  judge.  Almost  testily  at  the  close  of  the  case 
he  pronounced  his  decision,  upholding  the  will  with 
its  many  gifts  to  charity,  liberality  to  the  servants,  and 
comparative  pittance  to  me. 

During  all  this  trial  Olcott  was  at  no  time  absent  from 
my  side.  With  great  loss  to  his  own  affairs,  at  that 
very  time  running  badly  against  him,  the  faithful  fel 
low  sturdily  devoted  himself  to  my  cause,  an  example 
of  friendship,  indeed ;  nor  was  my  own  chagrin  at  the 
result  more  keen  than  his  own. 

'This  girl,  Start,  is  a  liar  from  first  to  last,"  he  said 
with  deliberate  resolution,  "and  I  am  not  finished  with 
her  yet." 

Even  when  I  assured  him  I  was  willing  to  drop  the 
whole  business,  he  would  not  desist. 

"That  fortune,"  he  insisted,  "is  yours,  Cameron. 
We  shall  appeal.  First,  we  shall  fight  for  a  new  trial 
on  some  ground  or  other.  Leave  it  all  to  me." 

With  him  in  all  this  resolution  was  that  lovable  wife 
of  his,  who,  with  her  love  for  Betty,  was  doubly  useful 
to  me  in  my  troubles. 

For  my  part,  persuaded  of  my  fortune  in  the  Dolly, 
I  bore  with  some  composure  the  loss  of  my  inheritance. 
Determined  to  appeal  and  otherwise  to  hold  the  case 
in  the  courts,  even  though  the  lawyers  should  devour 
all,  I  nevertheless  ceased  to  reckon  on  the  estate.  Betty 
and  I  should  now  marry.  I  should  sell  my  shares  of 
Dolly  at  once,  demand  her  hand  of  her  parents,  and 
then  make  her  my  wife  whether  they  agreed  to  it  or 
not. 


CHAPTER  LXXIX 
STILL   ANOTHER   LOSS 

'TELEGRAPHING  to  Canby  the  loss  of  my  lawsuit, 
I  advised  him  also  of  my  desire  to  sell  at  least 
half  of  my  stock  in  the  Dolly  immediately,  the  reasons 
for  which  I  had  already  given  him  in  a  letter  before 
the  trial.  Without  waiting  for  a  reply,  I  forthwith, 
to  please  Betty  as  a  final  effort,  sought  old  Sinclair, 
who,  though  he  had  given  up  business,  still  retained  an 
office  in  Nassau  Street.  He  received  me  sourly,  not 
even  affecting  past  hypocrisy. 

"Mr.  Cameron,"  said  he,  as  soon  as  I  had  declared 
my  errand,  "you  are  very  frank  to  advise  me  of  your 
losing  your  lawsuit,  when  it  can  be  no  secret  to  any 
one  who  reads  the  newspapers.  As  for  your  hopes 
from  this  mine  of  yours,  it  is  probably  a  phantom  like 
the  inheritance.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  it  makes 
no  difference  what  your  expectations  may  be,  good  or 
bad,  you  shall  not  have  my  consent,  sir,  nor  my  wife's, 
to  marrying  my  daughter.  You  understand  ?" 

With  that  he  bowed  me  out,  as  the  saying  is,  I  being 
beside  myself  with  vexation  at  his  contempt,  which  was 
still  stinging  me  when  I  arrived  at  the  office  of  Olcott. 
This  was  the  place  where  I  received  all  my  communi 
cations.  Hardly  had  I  entered  the  door  when  a  tele 
gram  was  handed  me  which,  indeed,  banished  the  sen- 

388 


STILL   ANOTHER   LOSS          389 

sations  of  contumely.  It  was  from  Canby,  who,  to  my 
despair,  informed  me  the  Dolly  had  that  afternoon  been 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver  at  the  suit  of  Godfrey. 
The  latter  had  gotten  a  few  shares  for  this  purpose,  had 
roused  some  minority  shareholders,  had  sought  a  coun 
try  judge,  and,  without  notice  whatever,  had  placed 
the  property  in  the  hands  of  an  unscrupulous  receiver. 

That  my  shares  were  for  the  present,  possibly  for 
ever,  worthless  was  now  clear.  I  resolved  at  once  to 
hurry  to  Colorado.  Packing  my  trunk,  I  received  a 
telephone  call  from  Lillian,  whom  I  had  not  sought 
since  the  trial,  and  who  now  begged  me  in  the  most 
excited  tones  to  hurry  to  her  rooms,  adding — what  sur 
prised  me  still  more — that  I  fetch  Olcott  also  without 
fail.  We  were  there  in  half  an  hour,  Olcott  utterly 
ignorant  still  of  the  second  will  and  only  knowing  that 
Lillian  and  I  were  friends. 

"My  God !"  she  cried  as  she  opened  the  door.  "That 
will  is  gone,  stolen,  stolen,  Charles." 

"What  will  do  you  mean,  Miss  Evanson  ?"  asked  the 
nonplussed  Olcott,  while  I  stood  aside  bewildered. 

"Oh,  I'll  tell  you  everything,  everything,"  answered 
poor  Lillian.  "Sit  down,  sit  down.  It's  that  Lizette, 
Charles.  Conners  has  succeeded  in  getting  around  her. 
She  left  me  for  a  vacation  ten  days  ago — a  vacation, 
she  said." 

"What  the  deuce  does  all  this  mean — Conners?"  de 
manded  Olcott. 

"Listen  to  it  all,  all,"  she  replied,  trying  to  compose 
herself,  until  we  understood  that,  having  determined 
to  deliver  to  me  in  Olcott's  presence  (lest  I  impulsively 
should  destroy  it)  the  second  will,  she  had  opened  the 
drawer  in  her  little  safe,  only  to  find  it  gone.  Lizette 


390  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

alone  had  the  other  key  to  that  compartment,  and  the 
girl,  of  whose  recent  actions  a  dozen  odd  circumstances 
now  were  recalled,  had  been  bribed  beyond  fidelity,  it 
seemed  clear,  by  Conners.  Not  a  trace  of  her  had  Lil 
lian  been  able  to  get,  though  half  a  dozen  persons  were 
seeking  her  by  telephone  at  the  address  she  had  left 
behind. 

It  was  an  hour  before  we  quieted  Lillian,  whose  agi 
tation  was  more  at  my  loss,  if  the  will  was  destroyed, 
than  at  fears  of  her  own  humiliation  should  the  docu 
ment  be  brought  to  light;  nor  was  Olcott  in  a  very 
good  humour  with  me  when  we  left  the  house,  swearing 
that  he  had  never  heard  of  a  more  extraordinary  affair 
in  his  life.  As  for  my  own  thoughts,  I  now  realised 
that  I  was  penniless  indeed. 

"Oh,  you  dear  man,"  exclaimed  Lillian  as  we  left 
her,  "I've  ruined  you,  after  all." 

As  we  passed  out  of  the  building,  Olcott  said : 

"I  don't  know  what  to  make  of  her  story.  I'm  half 
inclined  to  suspect  she  let  the  maid  run  away — an  easy 
loophole,  you  see,  to  get  rid  of  the  will  without  appear 
ing  to  do  injustice  to  you  and " 

"Oh,  shame,  Olcott,"  I  exclaimed.  "Surely  a  woman 
who  thinks  enough  of  her  good  name  to  throw  away 
two  hundred  thousand  rather  than  be  humiliated  can 
be  true  to " 

"Yes,  I  suppose  you're  right.  At  all  events,  Cam 
eron,  you  know  her  best,  so  your  opinion  governs.  But, 
hang  it,  even  if  we  recover  this  second  will,  there'll  be 
a  fight  to  establish  it.  These  scoundrels  having  proved 
their  own  will,  can  get  all  the  funds  they  need  to  fight 
ours  as  fraudulent,  forged,  or  made  under  undue  in 
fluence." 


STILL   ANOTHER   LOSS          391 

"There's  only  one  comfort  in  this  last  affair,"  I 
added ;  "even  if  the  second  is  now  destroyed,  this  bold 
performance,  with  Lizette  dragged  into  it,  is  a  crime 
easily  run  down  and  will  give  us  a  hold  upon  the  origi 
nal  gang.  Conners,  you  see,  will  be  in  immediate 
trouble." 


CHAPTER  LXXX 
COLORADO    COURTS 

'T'HERE  was,  it  seemed  plain,  only  one  thing  to  do, 
*  to  hasten  to  Colorado.  After  a  parting  word  with 
Betty,  I  caught  an  express  late  that  night,  nor  did  I 
sleep  many  hours  on  the  way,  so  maddened  was  I  by 
the  accumulation  of  reverses. 

Canby  meeting  me  at  the  train,  I  was  soon  possessed 
of  the  whole  story,  and  was  glad  to  know  that  he  had 
employed  the  best  counsel  to  set  aside  the  receivership. 
By  this  time,  however,  there  had  intervened  the  com 
pany's  creditors,  not  numerous,  to  be  sure,  but  sufficient 
to  complicate  the  case. 

Our  counsel  pressed  their  motion  to  vacate,  and  an 
immediate  hearing,  to  our  joy,  was  granted.  Then  the 
court  admitted  it  had  exceeded  its  jurisdiction  in  grant 
ing  a  receivership  without  notice.  We  were  pleased. 
The  court  went  further.  It  would  at  once  vacate  the 
appointment.  We  were  delighted. 

'This  judge  is  clear.  This  judge  knows  the  law," 
remarked  the  happy  Canby. 

"However,"  added  his  Honour,  "the  parties  being 
now  all  before  me,  after  notice  to  each  other,  I  have 
to-day  jurisdiction  to  do  what  is  proper.  The  appoint 
ment  of  Mr.  Barnaby  is,  as  I  say,  vacated,  for  this 
court  must  always  admit  itself  in  error  when  error  is 
pointed  out." 

392 


COLORADO   COURTS  393 

"Ain't  he  clear,  that  judge !"  exclaimed  Canby. 

"That  being  done,  though,"  continued  the  court, 
"and  jurisdiction  existing,  as  I  said,  to-day  by  reason 
of  the  presence  of  both  parties,  I  now,  considering  that 
circumstances  justify  a  receivership  of  this  property, 
place  the  Dolly  Consolidated  Mining  and  Reduction 
Company  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  and  appoint  Mr. 
Charles  Barnaby  to  that  place." 

We  could  scarcely  believe  our  ears,  but  our  counsel, 
determined  to  save  his  face,  arose  with  great  dignity  to 
take  exception. 

"I  may  add,  your  Honour,"  said  he,  "that,  of  course, 
we  shall  recover  our  costs  against  plaintiff  Godfrey  for 
error  in  the  first  receivership." 

"Quite  right,"  replied  the  judge,  as  one  who  was 
doing  him  a  great  favour ;  "costs  against  the  plaintiff, 
you  understand.  Mr.  Clerk,  costs  against  the  plaintiff." 

I  had  hardly  time  to  curse  the  costs  to  myself,  when 
counsel  for  the  receiver  (of  course,  in  the  interest  of 
Godfrey)  arose  with  much  sense  of  duty  to  assure  the 
court  that,  as  the  motion  to  vacate  had  been  made  in 
the  name  of  the  company,  the  costs  would  belong  to 
the  company,  and,  as  counsel  for  its  receiver,  he  would 
consider  these  an  asset,  no  bone,  apparently,  being  too 
small  for  this  dog  to  pick.  He  would,  therefore,  him 
self  collect  the  costs.  Though  it  was  clear  this  detesta 
ble  sum  would  not  exceed  twenty-five  dollars,  the  law 
yers  on  all  sides  fell  to  wrangling  over  it,  as  if  it  were 
the  mine  itself,  until  Canby  and  myself  withdrew  in 
disgust. 

"What's  this  country  coming  to,  with  judges  like 
that!"  exclaimed  Canby,  with  an  oath,  as  he  quitted 
the  room. 


394  A   NICE   YOUNG  MAN 

It  was  now  undeniable  that  we  were  in  a  bad  situa 
tion.  Remedy  we  had  none  except  by  appeal,  a  dubious 
and  tardy  relief,  since  meanwhile  the  property  would 
be  ruined  and  the  shares  become  worthless. 

The  first  question  now  was  whether  there  was  any 
honesty  in  the  receiver  himself.  Canby  declared  he 
would  not  trust  that  man  as  far  as  a  frog  could  jump, 
and  such  was  the  opinion  of  our  lawyers. 

We  at  length  consulted  the  receiver,  who  lied  to  us,  as 
we  could  see,  from  the  start.  Within  five  days  he  stopped 
all  work  on  the  mine,  and  within  five  more,  to  our  in 
tense  humiliation,  a  suit  was  begun  against  the  Dolly 
by  the  owner  of  an  adjoining  mine,  who  claimed  that 
the  vein  we  had  been  working  was  a  mere  extension 
of  his,  a  property  known  as  the  Justice,  and  that, 
though  within  our  lines,  it  was  subject  to  his  pursuit. 
Knowing  enough  of  mining  litigation,  we  saw  that  the 
receiver's  seeming  distress  at  this  suit  was  not  so  deep 
as  it  appeared.  Our  property,  beyond  a  question,  was 
to  be  hacked  to  pieces  by  collusion,  and  we  were  to  be 
robbed  by  the  Justice  company. 

Our  shares  fell  now  to  a  song,  and,  though  we  were 
not  forced  to  sell  them,  they  were  of  no  market  value. 
Whether  they  would  not  be  entirely  annihilated  by  loss 
of  the  vein,  or  by  a  sale  for  the  receiver's  debts,  was  the 
serious  stage  next  to  be  confronted. 

In  the  worst  spirits  imaginable  I  again  returned  to 
New  York.  On  the  way  I  stopped  at  Washington,  as 
the  Philippines  were  now  ceded  to  the  United  States. 
Here,  too,  I  received  disappointment.  The  Senator 
had  grown  cautious  about  the  exploration  scheme. 

"The  fact  is,  Cameron,"  said  he,  "some  of  these  fools 
lost  their  heads  about  the  opportunities  in  the  islands 


COLORADO    COURTS  395 

and  began  to  ask  too  much.  We  had  a  neat  little  rail 
way  project  all  ready  in  a  quiet  and  proper  manner, 
had  bought  a  number  of  old  titles  there  for  a  song  and 
were  going  to  have  Congress  ratify  them.  It  was 
Gway's  scheme — a  fertile  fellow,  that.  Now  that 
damned  Boston  syndicate  grew  hoggish  in  the  same 
line,  and  that  has  started  all  this  newspaper  talk.  A 
committee  of  inquiry  will  probably  be  appointed.  I'm 
done  with  the  thing.  I  don't  think  it's  right  to  meddle 
with  these  things  after  the  people  appear  disturbed 
about  them.  It's  not  the  right  thing  to  do." 

While  I  was  not  afraid  that  the  Senator  would  ever 
become  infected  with  concern  for  the  public  welfare, 
as  Madame  de  Motteville  expresses  it,  I  appreciated  his 
caution,  though  with  increasing  discontent,  as  I  saw 
myself  again  reduced  to  seek  employment. 

One  pleasure  I  had  just  at  this  juncture,  small  but 
vindictive.  While  I  was  talking  to  the  Senator,  some 
thing  reminded  him  of  a  telegram  received  by  him  that 
day  from  Godfrey,  whom  he  had  known  some  years. 
This  telegram  read  as  follows : 

"Have  organised  scheme  in  which  the  return  of  every  doMar 
invested  is  absolutely  certain  in  thirty  days.  Absolutely  certain. 
Don't  fail  to  join  us.  Great  secret.  Trust  me.  How  much  shall 
I  reserve  for  you  and  draw  for?" 

"That  sounds  well,"  said  the  Senator.  "If  he'll  get 
it  all  back  in  thirty  days,  why  is  he  telegraphing  around 
the  country  for  subscribers  ?" 

"The  cursed  scamp !"  I  added.  "I  hope  you're  not 
going  to*  help  him." 

Hardly,"  he  responded,  as  he  fell  to  writing  a  reply, 
which  he  soon  showed  me :  "Draw  on  me  for  my  pro 
portion  thirty-one  days  after  sight." 


396  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

We  fell  to  laughing  at  this  ingenious  answer,  which, 
moreover,  was  sent  with  charges  to  be  collected  of 
Godfrey,  and  when  it  was  dispatched  the  Senator  re 
marked  : 

"I  knew  that  fellow  Godfrey's  father  before  him  in 
Illinois.  We  had  adjoining  lots  in  the  early  days  of 
Springfield  on  a  street  that  had  a  business  future.  I 
held  the  corner  lot  and  thought  he  might  sell  his  to 
me,  but  the  old  devil  insisted  on  my  selling  to  him,  and, 
when  he  saw  I  never  would,  he  ruined  my  lot  and  the 
whole  neighbourhood,  besides,  by  selling  his  to  some 
congregation  or  other  that  built  a  church  on  every  inch 
of  it.  Churches  ruin  streets,  ruin  them." 

The  Senator,  after  a  pause,  commented  further  on 
the  Godfreys : 

"I  knew  his  mother,  too,  when  she  told  her  lawyer 
to  be  sure  to  get  her  divorce  by  noon,  as  she  had  to  be 
at  a  luncheon  at  one.  Business-like !  Now  she's  mar 
ried  a  fortune,  she  snubs  the  other  women  in  Chicago 
because  her  husband  kills  more  pigs  a  year  than  the 
rest  of  them." 

As  for  Betty,  poor  girl,  ready  to  live  with  me  even 
in  a  cot,  she  still  agreed  it  would  do  neither  of  us  credit 
to  marry  without  a  penny.  Some  turn  of  affairs  must 
be  awaited. 

To  debate  the  course  we  should  take,  a  final  confer 
ence  was  had  at  the  Olcotts  in  a  small  parlor,  where, 
with  arms  about  each  other,  we  could  discuss  that  sim 
plicity  of  life  in  which  with  the  utmost  happiness  we 
could  live  and  love  upon  nothing. 


CHAPTER  LXXXI 
A   VERY   PAINFUL    SCENE 

M  EVER  shall  I  forget  that  day,  for  hardly  had  we 
begun  our  talk,  hardly  had  we  settled  into  the 
complete  peace  of  a  domestic  future,  when  there  oc 
curred  an  interruption  momentous  and  extraordinary. 
A  rustle  of  skirts  outside,  suppressed,  excited  words, 
a  quiet  rapping  at  the  door,  and,  before  we  had  time 
to  turn  the  knob,  there  rushed  in  Lillian,  leading  Lizette 
and  some  man  I  had  never  seen  before.  The  maid  was 
in  tears,  white  and  terrified ;  the  mistress  nervous,  but 
not  less  beautiful  than  ever  in  the  lofty  animation  of 
her  eyes. 

"I  tried  to  find  you  at  your  office,  Mr.  Olcott,"  she 
said,  not  even  stopping  to  notice  our  two  women,  who, 
unaware  of  all  this  matter  of  a  second  will,  were  gazing 
at  her  as  a  pair  of  pretty,  round-eyed  quail  might  re 
gard  a  bird  of  paradise. 

"Here  is  Lizette,"  she  continued,  breaking  the  hush 
that  followed  her  first  words.  "No,  you  must  not  scold 
her.  She  has  suffered  enough.  I  have  brought  with 
me  this  gentleman,  a  notary." 

Still  we  hardly  knew  how  to  speak,  for  we  saw  that 
unusual  things  were  about  to  follow,  Olcott,  however, 
murmuring  an  introduction  to  the  ladies,  the  ceremony 
of  which  nobody  had  time  to  observe. 

397 


398  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"And  here  is  the  will,"  she  added,  handing  it  to 
Olcott.  "Read  it  at  once,  aloud,  please,  in  my  presence. 
I  am  tired  of  this  uncert " 

"Tear  the  infernal  thing  in  pieces !"  I  exclaimed. 

"Never!"  she  cried.    "Read  it,  Mr.  Olcott." 

"There  is  just  a  possibility,  Miss  Evanson,"  he  re 
plied,  "that  this  may  become  unnecessary.  Conners  is 
certainly  in  difficulties  now  by  reason  of  this  affair." 

"Read  the  will,  I  say,"  repeated  Lillian. 

"Ah,  my  poor  mistress,"  the  maid  sobbed.  "That 
bad  Conners  he  make  me  take  it,  I  love  him  so;  but 
first  I  read  it  myself,  and  when  I  see  what  it  say  about 
my  mistress,  that  big  lie,  I  would  not  give  it  up  for 
fear  some  people  they  make  her  give  up  money  all  her 
life  or  print  it." 

"Never  mind,  Lizette.    Poor  child,"  said  Lillian. 

"And  then  he  struck  me  here,  right  here  on  the  head, 
the  first  day  we  together,  and  I  run  away  from  him. 
I  keep  this  thing.  I  not  tear  it  up.  It  is  no  crime,  is 
it,  what  I  do?" 

"Keep  cool,  Lizette,"  I  said.  "Now,  suppose  we  have 
a  talk  about  all  this  later.  You  keep  the  papers,  Olcott, 
if  Miss  Lillian  insists,  until " 

"No !  He'll  read  it  now,  or  I'll  state  its  contents  to 
these  ladies.  I'm  going  to  put  this  paper  into  so  many 
memories  that  there'll  be  no  further  object  in  your  con 
cealing  it.  You've  been  kind,  gentlemen,  very,  very 
kind  to  me,  in  keeping  it,  as  I  see,  a  secret  from  these 
young  women,  but  they  must  know  it  now,  and  all  I 
have  to  say  is  that  what  it  says  about  me  is  a  cruel, 
wicked  lie." 

With  this  poor  Lillian,  who  had  thus  far  remained 


A   VERY   PAINFUL    SCENE       399 

standing,  sank  into  a  chair,  her  voice  in  deeper  emotion 
than  was  ever  exhibited  on  any  stage. 

There  was  another  pause  in  silence. 

"You  insist  on  this  ?"  asked  Olcott. 

"Absolutely,"  she  replied.  "Nor  will  I  leave  this 
room  voluntarily  until  it  is  done.  Go  on." 

In  vain  did  I  expostulate.  The  will  was  read  to  the 
wondering  little  women  and  the  notary. 

"The  base  old  man,"  cried  Betty.  "He  lied  about 
you,"  and  upon  that  she  flung  her  arms  around  Lillian's 
neck.  "Nobody  will  believe  a  word  of  it." 

But  the  woman  of  the  world  knew  better,  and,  as 
she  rose  slowly  to  her  feet  with  that  expression  which 
comes  upon  a  face  when  one  has  to  take  up  a  long,  hard 
burden,  she  shook  her  head  and  answered : 

"Dear  child,  while  you're  not  much  younger  than 
I,  you  don't  know  yet  this  cruel  world.  Believe  it,  the 
world?  Of  course  it  will.  It  likes  to  believe  such 
things.  Condemn  an  actress!  It's  too  easy  a  chance 
to  be  lost." 

Never  had  I  heard  a  bitter  tone  in  Lillian's  voice 
before. 

"But  you  have  us  dear  friends,  don't  you  see?"  Betty 
exclaimed. 

"Friends !"  cried  Lillian.  "Ah,  you  don't  know  what 
you  say,  dear,  sweet,  little  woman !  The  world  of 
fashion  won't  let  Charles  Cameron's  wife  be  friend  of 
mine.  You'll  try  it,  I  know.  You'll  try  it,  but  the 
world  will  break  your  efforts." 

Here  the  tears  began  to  run  down  her  lovely  cheeks, 
while,  in  a  sudden  burst  of  feeling,  she  caught  Betty; 
in  her  arms  to  kiss  her. 

"No,  no.    The  good  mothers  will  be  against  me,  too. 


400  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

They  can't  understand  it  all,  and  I  suppose  they'd  bet 
ter  not.  I'm  paying  the  hard  price  of  beauty  behind 
the  footlights,  and  maybe  I've  been  at  fault,  besides — 
but  not  that — no,  not  what  that  bad  old  man  declared. 
I  swear  it,  dear  women,  I  swear  it!  Good-bye.  I've 
got  to  give  you  all  up.  Good-bye." 

But  the  worst  was  yet  to  occur,  a  climax  never  to 
be  forgotten  by  any  of  us.  Her  father  entered.  It  was 
just  as  she  was  leaving  the  room  in  her  agony,  for  the 
old  man,  as  it  subsequently  transpired,  having  by 
chance  called  at  her  rooms,  found  there  such  a  state 
of  excitement  in  her  two  other  servants  as  caused  him 
to  get  from  them  some  inklings  they  had  of  where  she 
had  gone,  hints  easily  picked  up  from  her  impatient 
search  for  Olcott  and  me  over  the  telephone  after 
Lizette's  return. 

"Lily,  my  dear  Lillian,  what  is  wrong?"  he  asked 
on  the  threshold,  as  she  herself  was  running  out. 

It  was  a  terrible  thing  to  see.  She  stood  stone  still 
a  moment,  then  sank  against  the  wall,  whither,  for  a 
moment,  none  of  us  had  mind  enough  left  to  run  to  her 
support.  It  was  the  old  man  himself  who  caught  her. 

"Don't  you  know  me,  child  ?"  he  said,  as  he  led  her 
to  a  chair,  the  blood  now  coming  back  to  her  face  until 
it  was  crimson,  while  she  made  to  us  some  foolish  ges 
ture  invoking  secrecy.  Nobody  had  yet  replied. 

"I — I  beg  your  pardon,  ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he 
resumed.  "My  daughter  here — I'll  have  to  ask  you, 
suh,  whether  the  document  in  your  hands  has  any  con 
nection  with  my  daughter?"  for  he  could  not  help  see 
ing  that  her  eyes  were  intently  on  it  and  that  Olcott, 
who  had  it  in  his  hands,  was  getting  it  out  of  sight  in 
an  awkward  fashion. 


A   VERY   PAINFUL   SCENE       401 

"It  is  nothing,  sir,  nothing,"  responded  Olcott. 

But  the  old  man  was  already  at  his  side,  where, 
placing  his  hand  on  Olcott's  shoulder,  he  added  firmly : 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  suh,  but  I'll  have  to  insist  on 
your  letting  me  see  that  paper." 

"Oh,  father,"  moaned  Lillian. 

I  think,  had  we  had  any  self-possession,  we  might 
even  then  have  put  him  off,  but  we  were  all  helpless 
from  surprise  and  wrought-up  feelings.  As  it  was, 
Olcott  hesitating,  the  old  fellow  took  it  abruptly  in 
his  own  hands,  when  in  a  deathly  silence  he  glanced 
first  at  the  top  and  then  at  the  signature. 

"A  will !  Mr.  George  Cameron  ?  I  really  don't  see 

what  connection Ah,  your  name  in  it,  Lily — 

what's  this ?— -God !— what's  this?" 

"It's  a  lie,  father,  a  lie,"  cried  Lillian,  as  she  sank 
at  his  feet  and  clasped  his  knees,  then  dissolving  into 
tears,  conscious  of  innocence,  3^et  conscious  of  that  de 
gree  of  guilt  which  in  his  eyes  would  have  been  too 
much. 

It  was  an  awful  sight  to  behold  the  old  man's  face, 
in  which  mingled,  while  astonishment  wore  off,  unut 
terable  resentment  towards  the  carcass  that  had  ma 
ligned  her.  As  may  be  supposed,  he  could  not,  for 
some  moments,  say  anything  at  all. 

"I'll  tear  him  from  his  grave.  I'll  tear  his  soul  from 
hell.  I  beg  your  pardon,  ladies.  I'm  an  old  man,  as 
you  see.  Why,  curse  him!  Where  is  he?  Get  up, 
Lily,  girl.  Come,  come  with  me.  I'll  find  him.  Is  he 
in  town?  Come,  come." 

WTell,  they  left  us,  that  is  all  I  can  remember;  nor 
could  we  four  speak  a  word  to  each  other  for  a  time, 


402      A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

remembering  only  that  face,  that  voice,  that  mind  so 
nearly  gone. 

In  a  little  while  we  betook  ourselves,  all  of  us,  to  Lil 
lian's  apartments,  where  we  found  her  prostrated  with 
emotion.  The  father  we  traced  in  a  half-mad  pursuit 
he  had  of  something,  and  after  a  day  we  were  able  to 
reduce  him  to  calmness,  a  condition  soon  imposed  by 
his  own  exhaustion.  At  the  end  of  three  days  Lillian, 
deadly  pale  and  at  his  side,  was  still  unable  to  resume 
her  play. 


CHAPTER  LXXXII 
WHICH  ENDS  THIS  HISTORY 

'T'HE  events  of  the  next  three  days  were  swift,  for 
*  Conners,  on  so  easy  a  clue  as  Lizette  could  fur 
nish,  was  speedily  caught  by  the  heels,  and,  being  in 
terror  because  of  the  charges  now  preferring  against 
him,  he  made  no  resistance  to  see  whether  they  could 
be  maintained,  but,  conscious  generally  of  guilt,  ac 
knowledged  a  participation  in  fraud  with  Sanderson, 
Maud  Start  and  Maria  Dole. 

The  signature  to  the  first  will  was  genuine.  That 
much  was  sound;  but  the  interior  sheets  had  been 
changed,  being  only  in  typewriting,  and  totally  differ 
ent  provisions  cunningly  inserted,  a  work  of  patience 
invented  by  Sanderson.  The  latter  had  conceived  the 
design  abroad,  when,  falling  in  with  Maud,  he  had 
heard  her  recount  the  old  man's  affairs  and  the  tempt 
ing  millions.  With  a  scheme  well  hatched,  they  had 
returned,  had  conspired  with  Maria,  and  had  been 
obliged  to  deal  with  Conners,  who  had  let  them  know 
of  his  having  witnessed  some  later  paper  just  before 
my  uncle's  death. 

The  devisees,  other  than  Maria  and  Maud,  were 
ignorant  of  the  fraud,  and  the  servants  named  in  the 
altered  document  were  mentioned,  some  of  them,  by 
way  of  peace,  and  others  because  their  names  were  upon 

403 


404  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

the  unaltered  concluding  pages.  All,  naturally,  had 
been  useful  to  each  other  as  witnesses  at  the  trial  in 
establishing  the  signatures  and  in  supporting  the  proba 
bility  of  the  bequests  by  extraneous  circumstances.  As 
for  me,  I  never  had  been  recognised  in  the  original  be 
yond  the  seventy-five  thousand  dollars. 

The  capitulation  of  Conners  involved  in  a  trice  the 
confession  of  the  others,  and  it  was  agreed  by  opposing 
counsel  that  no  opposition  would  be  made  to  our  setting 
the  decision  aside  and  to  our  establishing  the  later  will. 
Papers  were  speedily  drawn  to  that  effect,  and,  as  I  left 
the  lawyers,  I  telephoned  Betty  to  meet  me  at  the 
Olcotts',  which  she  did. 

"We  shall  be  married  at  once,  father  or  no  father/' 
I  cried,  "and  it  shall  be  at  my  home,  Betty,  out  of  town, 
at  the  AikensV 

The  blushing  Betty  agreeing  to  this,  I  hurried  that 
afternoon  to  my  old  home,  throwing  the  good  couple 
into  a  bustle  by  such  intelligence.  When  Betty,  with 
Mrs.  Olcott,  arrived  the  next  day,  a  plentiful  breakfast 
awaited  her,  though,  as  may  be  imagined,  she  was  in 
no  state  of  mind  to  care  anything  about  it  or  to  eat 
more  than  a  mouthful.  The  sweet  old  housewife  em 
braced  and  blessed  my  little  partner  between  excursions 
to  the  kitchen,  where  two  plump  young  pigeons  were 
roasting  for  us. 

"I'm  afraid,"  she  exclaimed,  "I  ought  to  have  cooked 
them  a  bit  longer,  the  poor  little  birds.  I'm  afraid  I 
didn't  make  it  quite  hot  enough  for  them,  the  dear 
things." 

Thus  it  was  that  on  that  bright  morning  in  May 
Betty  and  I  were  married,  it  being  my  good  fortune 
to  unite  myself  with  virtue,  innocence  and  beauty  on 


WHICH  ENDS  THIS  HISTORY    405 

the  same  spot  on  which  I  had  passed  my  childhood. 
During  several  days  we  lingered  in  this  rural  scene, 
where  the  blossoms  afforded  fragrance  with  a  little 
shade  at  noon.  Together  we  visited  my  old  walks, 
together  mused  by  the  lazy  stream.  As  for  the  for 
tune,  we  troubled  ourselves  for  the  time  about  no  such 
vulgar  care,  for  a  trifling  hope  makes  lovers  rich. 

Nor  was  there  need  of  worry.  Though  old  Sinclair 
vented  his  wrath  in  letters  and  telegrams,  he  was  not 
long  in  relenting  after  a  new  and  successful  trial  ad 
judged  me  the  heir.  Until  that  time  Betty  and  I  lived 
frugally  in  a  suburban  cottage,  lauding  with  vows  and 
sighs  and  kisses  the  pleasures  of  temporary  poverty 
and  simple  fare.  It  was  a  pretty  little  house,  which 
love  made  comfortable  and  good  taste  enriched,  nor 
did  ever  palace  appear  finer  to  its  owner.  In  the  morn 
ing  the  bustling  Betty  hastened  to  see  how  the  lighted 
windows  would  look  from  without,  running  out  of 
doors  at  dusk  to  see  the  glow  behind  the  curtains,  and 
at  night  longing  to  see  the  garden  sparkle  in  the  morn 
ing  dew. 

In  the  midst  of  our  happiness  we  were  visited  by 
the  Senator  and  his  wife,  both  of  whom  vowed  there 
never  had  been  a  more  natural  union  than  ours. 

"This  is  a  most  auspicious  beginning,  Senator,"  re 
marked  Mr.  Aiken;  "this  will  be  a  happy  couple,  in 
deed." 

"I  should  think  they  would,"  replied  the  man  of  the 
world,  "being  so  young  and  having  all  the  money  they 
need." 

"Fortune  is  not  to  be  despised,"  quoth  the  good  man, 
"but  they  have  better  yet,  a  wealth  of  love." 

"Not  so  bad,  not  so  bad,"  the  statesman  answered. 


406  A   NICE   YOUNG   MAN 

"I'm  not  ashamed  to  admit  that  when  I  ran  away  with 
Mrs.  Baxom  I  would  rather  have  had  her  than  all  the 
money  old  John  Rockefeller  has  stowed  away." 

"Besides  which,  Charles  begins  life  with  admirable 
principles,"  continued  the  parson. 

"Finest  in  the  world,  the  finest  in  the  world,"  ex 
claimed  Baxom,  "though,  I'm  glad  to  feel,  the  boy's 
recent  experiences  have  probably  taught  him  how  to 
give  some  people  as  good  as  he  receives." 

"Quite  right;  I  hope  so,  too,  with  all  my  heart," 
sighed  Aiken,  "for  we  must  do  unto  others  as  we  would 
have  them  do  unto  us." 

"The  golden  rule,  I  believe,"  Baxom  responded; 
"and  for  my  part,  Mr.  Aiken,  I  have  always  done  even 
better  than  that,  as  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  looking 
ahead  a  bit  in  dealing  with  a  good  many  prominent 
people  and  of  doing  unto  them  beforehand  what  I 
think,  if  they  get  the  chance,  they  are  going  to  do  unto 
me,  a  modern  improvement  upon  the  old  rule,  as  I  hear 
people  quoting  it  lately  from  some  book  or  other,  and, 
at  any  rate,  one  that  a  number  of  us  public  men  at 
Washington  believe  is  the  only  true  rule  to  follow." 

"Glorious  precept !"  exclaimed  honest  Aiken.  "Thank 
God  we  have  such  men  as  you  at  the  head  of  our  coun 
try's  affairs !" 

Then  the  Baxoms  and  we  Camerons  returned  to  the 
city  in  the  Senator's  private  car.  The  jolliest  party 
imaginable,  we  finished  a  dinner  with  champagne  just 
as  the  train  paused  at  an  uptown  station. 

"That's  the  finest  steak  I  ever  ate,"  said  the  Senator, 
just  as  the  ladies  had  left  the  table  to  put  on  their 
cloaks;  "but  what's  the  matter,  boy,  why " 

He  began  to  follow  my  looks  out  of  the  window  to 


WHICH  ENDS  THIS  HISTORY     407 

a  billboard,  while  the  trembling  glass  shook  the  wine 
upon  my  coat. 

"Extra !  Lillian  Evanson  found  dead  in  bed !  Sui 
cide  probable/' 

He  looked  at  my  pale  face,  tried  to  say  something, 
bit  the  end  of  a  cigar,  burnt  his  fingers  with  a  match, 
pretended  it  was  a  bit  of  tobacco  that  made  him  cough, 
finally  crunched  the  Havana  in  the  corner  of  his  mouth, 
and  slowly  said  : 

"Cameron,  I  think  there's  one  more  angel  in  the  land 
above." 


THE  END 


IB  3209C 


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